Cristiano Ronaldo throws teammates under the bus, says 'if everyone was at my level, we'd be leaders'

Athletes complain about quotes that make them look bad getting taken out of context a lot, and most of the time they're right. With that in mind, here's a quote from Cristiano Ronaldo that started floating around after Real Madrid lost to Atlético Madrid, a result that could see them fall 12 points behind Barcelona in La Liga.

Ronaldo in mixed zone "If we were all at my level, maybe we would be leaders." [via @AranchaMOBILE ]

— Dermot Corrigan (@dermotmcorrigan) February 27, 2016

Pretty bad, right? This makes Ronaldo sound like a huge jerk. But maybe this is just one line, and with the full context of what Ronaldo had to say, we'd understand. Well, here's Ronaldo's full quote, from Tiempo de Juego.

"I don't want to disparage anyone, any partner, but when they're not the best ... I like playing with Karim, Bale, Marcelo, but when they don't play it's difficult. I don't mean that Jese, Lucas and Kovacic are not good, but if everyone was at my level, maybe we'd be leaders."

That's worse! He's throwing specific teammates under the bus. He busts out an "I'm not saying they're not good, but" and then proceeds to name the players that he thinks are not good enough to help Real Madrid compete for a title.

Ronaldo proceeded to take a shot at the press. "Every year I'm s**t according to the press, but numbers and statistics do not lie."

He seems very happy at Real Madrid.

UPDATE: A few hours later, Cristiano Ronaldo spoke to AS to clarify his comments. He says that he only meant Madrid would lead La Liga if other players had as few injury problems as he did, not that he's better than his teammates.

"[The press] have misinterpreted my statements after the match. I was not saying I'm better than others. I meant the physical part and injuries. There have been major ailments in the team such as Pepe, Bale, Benzema, Marcelo ... and that has hurt us and has not allowed us to reach the level that we usually have. I totally respect my teammates and I never meant to offend. I don't think I'm better than anyone."