Benzema, Ronaldo woes weighing heavy on Real

MADRID - In a recurring theme of Real Madrid's struggles, Zinedine Zidane said all his side lacked was a goal as it fell 10 points behind La Liga leader Barcelona after firing more blanks in a bad-tempered Madrid derby on the weekend.

Yet, in attempting to defend a lackluster performance from Saturday's stalemate at Atletico Madrid, Zidane turned the spotlight once more on the misfiring Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema.

Ronaldo's run of one goal in eight La Liga games has attracted more attention because it is so out of character for a man who has tallied 414 times in 408 games and is Madrid's all-time top scorer.