Despite the furore initially caused by Cristiano Ronaldo’s post-match declarations after Saturday’s Madrid derby, it appears the Spanish press has now decided to put the story on the back burner.
That was certainly the case in Madrid-based sports newspaper AS, which devoted yesterday’s front page to a photo of young forward Borja Majoral – as though his appearance from the bench to replace Karim Benzema could possibly be construed as the biggest story to emerge from the game.
An editorial in the paper was similarly forgiving towards Ronaldo’s inflammatory statements, with Alfredo
Relano also believes Ronaldo’s comments will not cause any long-term problems with his colleagues, arguing that “his clumsy dealings with the media won’t affect life within the camp. He’ll explain himself to his team-mates today and they’ll understand.”
Leading sports daily Marca was harsher on Madrid’s failings, but, with the headline: ‘Real Madrid Time Bomb’, opted for a wider examination of the team’s on-field woes and the pressure president Florentino Perez is under.
Indeed, the paper published an article suggesting Ronaldo was right to bemoan the team’s injury problems this season, producing a graphic which revealed the first team squad has missed a total of 104 games through injury during the current campaign.
In Barcelona, Sport newspaper predictably poked fun at Ronaldo by comparing him to
local hero Lionel Messi.
“If everyone was at the same level as Messi,” wrote Lluis Mascaro, “Barca would win every title before the season started. But there’s only one Messi. Leo is unique and unrepeatable. The best player in the world and probably the best in history. And there’s absolutely nobody at his level.
“The difference between him and Cristiano Ronaldo is that he doesn’t criticise the mistakes of other players, because for Messi the good of the team comes above individual objectives.”
Another Barcelona publication wallowing in Madrid’s woe is Mundo Deportivo, which published a story listing five reasons for Los Blancos’ latest crisis – starting with the “erratic transfer policy” instigated by under-fire Perez.
