Real Madrid: Ronaldo face cut could have been worse

Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo leaves the pitch as he uses a phone to look at himself while bleeding from his forehead during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Madrid and Deportivo Coruna at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018. Ronaldo scored twice in Real Madrid’s 7-1 victory. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)

MADRID — Cristiano Ronaldo’s face cut could have been much worse, according to video released by his Real Madrid club on Monday.

Ronaldo was sliced extremely close to his left eye by a defender’s boot while he was scoring in the Spanish league on Sunday.

The club confirmed he needed a few stitches, and released video of the incident.

Ronaldo was diving to head in the ball from near the penalty spot for his second goal in minutes. Deportivo La Coruna defender Fabian Schar tried to hit the ball and ended up striking Ronaldo’s face with his right boot.

Doctors attended to him but they could not contain the blood, and Ronaldo had to leave the game even though there were about five minutes left and Madrid had already made all three substitutions.

As he left the field and blood was spilling down his face and neck, he asked for the doctor’s cell phone to look at the injury. Using the phone camera as a mirror, Ronaldo checked the damage and was not happy with what he saw, shaking his head briefly.

While Madrid said the injury was not serious, it did not say if he was fit to play.

Madrid’s next game is on Wednesday at home against Leganes in the second leg of the Copa del Rey. Madrid won the first match 1-0 using its second-stringers.

It remains unclear if Ronaldo will be available for the second leg.