Madrid's Ronaldo says leg injury "nothing special"

ALMERIA, Spain (AP) Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo says the leg injury that forced him to abandon Saturday's Spanish league match at Almeria is not serious.

Ronaldo walked off hurt after scoring early to spark Madrid's 5-0 rout at Almeria.

"It was for precaution," Ronaldo said. "It's nothing special. I was kicked in the first half and had the muscle a little stiff."

Ronaldo finished in the 52nd minute after competing for a ball with a defender. It is unclear when he sustained the injury. Jese Rodriguez replaced him a minute later.

Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti said Ronaldo had "a problem with his hamstring."

"I don't think it's important because he wasn't in pain," Ancelotti said. "I think he will recover soon. Tomorrow they will run him through more tests."

Ronaldo scored in the third minute, extending his recent scoring run to eight straight games for club and Portugal. It was his league-leading 17th goal in 14 rounds this season.

Ronaldo's latest goal tied him with former Mexico striker Hugo Sanchez as the club's fourth leading scorer all-time in league play with 164. Ronaldo did it in 149 games, while Sanchez needed 207. Raul Gonzalez holds the record for league goals for Madrid with 228.

Madrid didn't miss Ronaldo as Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Isco Alarcon, and Alvaro Morata all scored in the second half.

The Spanish league's other major star, Barcelona's Lionel Messi, tore his left hamstring in the last round and will be sidelined until January.

Madrid recently lost midfielder Sami Khedira for the rest of the season with a leg injury.