CAS decide to maintain Ronaldo’s five-game ban

The Court of Arbitration for Sport decided this Tuesday to maintain Cristiano Ronaldo’s five-game suspension, so Real Madrid’s appeal wasn’t successful. Los Blancos were hoping to see it decreased by at least one game after replay evidence proved that Ronaldo did not dive before being shown his second yellow card.

Either way, Ronaldo will still have to spend the next three games away from the team. The Portuguese star missed the return leg against Barcelona and also the La Liga opener at La Coruña. He will also sit out the home matches against Valencia and Levante while missing Real’s trip to play at Anoeta against Real Sociedad.

While it’s fair to say that Madrid didn’t miss Ronaldo on their last two games, the club and the Portuguese star alike are frustrated about the outcome of this situation, as Zinedine Zidane himself admitted during the pre-match press conference last Tuesday. Either way, Ronaldo will now have more time to prepare for a very long season ahead of him.