Real Madrid full-back Marcelo admits his side miss Cristiano Ronaldo.

The Portuguese superstar joined Juventus in July after nine glittering seasons at the Bernabeu.

Madrid quickly felt his absence in front of goal, struggling early in the campaign under Julen Lopetegui before replacing the Spaniard with Santiago Solari in October.

Although Los Blancos are only five points behind Barcelona in La Liga, they have shown a level of recovery under their new boss.

Marcelo insists it was clear Madrid would miss “the best player in the world”, but believes his side will always be strong on domestic and European fronts.

“He is a player who as well as being my team-mate is my friend, as he is with Sergio [Ramos] and Luka [Modric],” the Brazilian told Club del Deportista.

“It’s obvious that when the best player in the world isn’t in your team you’re going to miss him. But I don’t want to say that we don’t have the best players in the world in every position.

“Any team would like to have Cristiano with them, but Madrid will continue to be Madrid despite players coming and going.”

The 33-year-old has showed no signs of slowing down in Turin, scoring 11 goals in 20 games this term.