According to Cadena Ser of Spain, Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas have all but declared war on each other and are creating an uncomfortable rift between teammates, who have taken sides between the club’s two biggest stars.
The bad blood apparently started in September, when Casillas’ girlfriend, sports reporter Sara Carbonero, called Ronaldo a “selfish” and “individualistic” player during a broadcast for TV station Tele Cinco.
CR7 reportedly took exception to this unflattering analysis, and called his teammate and captain to let him know about it.
“Iker responded by telling [Ronaldo] that his girlfriend is a journalist who is free to comment on whatever or whomever she chooses,” Cadena Ser’s José Ramón de la Morena claimed during the ‘El Larguero’ podcast.
This back-and-forth continued a bit longer before the relationship between both players quickly started to deteriorate. Even an intervention by Real Madrid President Florentino Perez, before the opening game of the 2009-10 La Liga season, failed to produce a truce.
Time has only worsened the situation, especially for Ronaldo, who now feels that most of his teammates have turned their backs on him.
“In Barcelona, when someone fouls [Lionel] Messi, all his teammates, almost on cue, gang up on his aggresor. He [Ronaldo] is alone, and very few teammates come to his defense (after a foul),” de la Morena said.
Supposedly, Ronaldo’s only friends on the Madrid squad are fellow Portuguese countryman Pepe, Marcelo, Ángel Di María and Lassana Diarra, who are usually the first teammates to gather around him and celebrate whenever he scores a goal.
There is a lot going on in Madrid behind the scenes. The conflict between Ronaldo and Casillas is only one story. Mourinho is reportedly having problems with Madrid President Florentino Perez. Winning solves many conflicts but if Real Madrid don’t win anything this season, then it will make for a very interesting off-season.
