Perhaps the only saving grace of Real Madrid’s season so far up until this week was their form in the Champions League.

However, after suffering from an embarrassing 3-0 defeat at the hands of CSKA Moscow, all signs point to crisis for Los Blancos.

Granted, since the sacking of Julen Lopetegui the side have managed to claw back and stay in the title picture. Although, Santiago Solari’s men still sit five points adrift from Barcelona in first.

The obvious excuse to be made for Madrid’s dip in form would be the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer.

Cristiano sought pastures new in joining Juventus, a decision which he unlikely regrets given the fact the Old Lady currently sit eight points clear at the top of Serie A.

One player who has been rumoured to follow Ronaldo’s footsteps in swapping the Madrid scenery for Turin is Marcelo.

Ahead of his side’s home clash against Rayo Vallecano, the Brazilian has addressed these claims.

Per the Express, he said: “It’s never entered my mind to leave and look for another option.

“I have always done everything possible to stay at Real Madrid and I’ve never thought about playing time.

“If I had 15 minutes in every game, I’d give everything in those 15 minutes to play more and win more.”

Marcelo also addressed the hard-to-ignore correlation between Ronaldo’s departure and the side’s poor form.

He continued: “It is clear that if the best player in the world is not in your team, you will miss him.

“But it does not mean that we do not have the best in the world in each position. Any team wants to have Cristiano, but Madrid will continue to be Madrid.

“You can criticise [us], but assess a season at this point is crazy. We have the Club World Cup in a few days that we have to win, and we are alive in all competitions.”

Passionate words from the Brazilian.