Ronaldo says sorry

Cristiano Ronaldo plans to learn a lesson from his red card against Almeria on Saturday.

The Portuguese, starting his first home match in more than two months having recovered from an ankle injury, was at the centre of a hugely-eventful match that Real eventually won 4-2.

Ronaldo scored Real's last goal and also won and then missed a penalty before picking up two yellow cards in the final four minutes.

The first was for removing his shirt in celebration of his goal and then, soon after, he was shown a second yellow card for kicking Juanma Ortiz.

Ronaldo told AS: "Taking off my shirt was an instinctive reaction. I know that I made a mistake but I'm human. I didn't want to do it.

"These are things that happen in football and I hope to learn from them. I've apologised to my team-mates."

Real coach Manuel Pellegrini has defended Cristiano Ronaldo, telling the club's official website: "It's a shame that he saw a yellow card for taking his shirt off; he should have avoided that.

"His double booking was fair because he took his shirt off and because he was involved in a series of fouls.

"He is nevertheless a creative player who doesn't deserve to be sent off; other players make many more fouls and never see a red card."