Barcelona forward Neymar has admitted that he understands why Cristiano Ronaldo lost his temper in Real Madrid's 2-1 win over Cordoba on Saturday.

Ronaldo received a red card in the latter stages of the La Liga affair after kicking out at Cordoba defender Edimar in an off-the-ball incident.

Neymar believes that Ronaldo should be punished, but has claimed that it is sometimes difficult to ignore provocation, which he thinks comes with the territory of being a high-profile player.

"Anyone in this job is exposed to provocation and intimidation, especially strikers... Sometimes you give into it," Neymar is quoted as saying by Marca.

"What happened to Cristiano could have happened to anyone but it cannot go unpunished. Sometimes you're provoked, like [Zinedine] Zidane or me, but you have to focus on ignoring it."

Ronaldo is still waiting to learn the length of his suspension.