Madrid's Ronaldo denies he came back too soon from injury

Real Madrid striker Ronaldo insists he didn't rush his return to action by playing last weekend, even though he suffered a recurrence of a recent injury during the game.

Ronaldo tore right calf muscle fibres during Sunday's 0-0 league draw with Villarreal and will be sidelined for three weeks. A similar injury, which he sustained during training Dec. 29, caused the Brazilian to miss a Copa del Rey game last week.

"I'm sure that this time there was no mistake, not like other times when there have been recurrences. I felt fine to play and then I got injured," Ronaldo was quoted Tuesday in the sports daily Marca.

Injuries have kept Ronaldo out of five of Madrid's 18 league games this season. Injury and suspension have also combined to keep him out of all six of his team's Champions League group games.

"They've been normal soccer injuries," said the striker, whose career was threatened by a serious knee injury when he played for Inter Milan. "It's not my best moment but soccer is a contact sport."