Zinedine Zidane has paid tribute to Cristiano Ronaldo's physical endurance by claiming that the Real Madrid forward is able to deliver decisive moments beyond his own capabilities as a player.
Ronaldo returns to Portugal on Tuesday to face former club Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League having scored a hat trick in Saturday's derby victory against Atletico Madrid in La Liga.
The 31-year-old has been forced to overcome a preseason ravaged by an injury sustained during the Euro 2016 final, but now appears to be returning to his peak form with the European champions.
And Zidane, regarded as the world's greatest player during his own playing spell with Real, admits even he is surprised by Ronaldo's ability to deliver, regardless of his physical condition.
"Cristiano is the way he is," Zidane said. "You can think he is not playing well, but at any time, he can score.
"In my case, when I was a player, I would start the game full of power and stamina, but I was unable to perform so well at the end.
"But that is not the case with Cristiano. He can score goals at any time, even at the end of the match.
"You can criticise Ronaldo for not scoring enough goals, but three weeks ago, he scored three against Alaves, he scored three at the weekend and I hope he can score again on Tuesday."
Real go into Tuesday's game in Lisbon lying second in Group F after dropping two points against Legia Warsaw earlier this month.
More dropped points against Sporting would leave Real facing qualification as a runner-up, denying them a seeding in next month's draw for the round of 16.
But Zidane insists the state of the group will have no bearing on how his team approach the game.
"We need to be ready because Sporting can cause us troubles," Zidane said. "But I don't do the maths, my objective is win every single game.
"At Real Madrid, the objective is always to win the next match. Then we will see the final table.
"Tomorrow, our objective is to win the match."