COMMENT: At first glance, after that post derby outburst, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves everything he's getting today.
Even in his clarification, he's blaming others, claiming his attack on teammates after defeat to Atletico Madrid had been "misinterpreted" by the covering media.
C'mon Cris. Misinterpreted? You didn't miss on Saturday.
"If the players of Real Madrid were at my level, the team would be leading the league," Ronaldo declared, before making sure there was no confusion about his thoughts on Real's stand-ins.
"I do not want to disparage anyone, but when they are not the best ... I mean Bale, Marcelo did not make the derby and Benzema was replaced at the break..."
That's it, right? The guy in business with Donald Trump. Who's now talking about a Hollywood career. He's hanging kids like Borja Mayoral and Jese out to dry. They're simply not worthy... right?
Well, after a deep breath and some ringing around, you can mount a case that Ronaldo's anger wasn't aimed at his young teammates. The sights were set much higher up.
Saturday's reaction had been coming for some time - even before this season kicked off.
That's why Sergio Ramos, the Real captain, was quick to defend his teammate. Ramos doesn't play politics. If he believes something is wrong or someone is out of order, he'll go public with it. He did as much during Rafa Benitez's short reign before the New Year.
Ramos knew exactly where Ronaldo was coming from. Perhaps it could've been expressed a little better. But Ronaldo's words had his captain's full backing. This wasn't about Ronaldo's teammates. This was about the state of the club's medical team - and particularly the feud between the senior players and the department's chief, Dr Jesus Olmo.
The players had made their feelings clear to Florentino Perez, the Real president, about Olmo last season. Some, including Luka Modric, would take their injury problems and rehab 'off campus' such was their concern.
But the complaints fell on deaf ears. Ramos, upon being named captain last summer, pleaded with Florentino to shake-up the medical department and left the president in no doubt the players' attitude towards Olmo. Florentino's response was to give his close confidant even more control, granting Olmo sweeping powers across all medical services.
The reaction from the playing group was to ban Olmo from the locker room and for senior players to continue to have their injuries treated outside the club. That was in October. As of today, Real have battled through 21 muscle-related injuries this season. And that is exactly what Ronaldo was driving at with his outburst on Saturday.
Ronaldo called Ramos on Saturday night to clear up his words and on Monday spoke one-on-one with those, including Danilo, he had name-checked in the mixed zone after the game. There was no confusion from teammates. Olmo's been a hot topic all season. They knew the real source of Ronaldo's anger.
What's interesting is Ronaldo highlighted Gareth Bale's absence in his rant. So much for stories of resentment and jealousy from the Portuguese. He was basically admitting he and Real need Bale on the pitch if they're to be competitive.
Last week, it broke some on Real's board had grown tired of Bale's injury problems and were encouraging Florentino to sell the Welshman at season's end. But how much of Bale's absence is influenced by what is going on inside Real? Indeed, where would Real be at this stage of the season if Florentino had actually listened to Ramos way back in August?
For the moment, Ronaldo and Ramos are treating this in-house. And some Madrid sources tell Tribalfootball.com that there's a hesitancy from both to go public with the real root cause of Ronaldo's ire.
But with Barcelona and their fans having a field day with this, Ronaldo needs to get on the front foot.
It may cost him his relationship with Florentino, which is already hanging by a thread, but lifting the lid on what is happening behind the scenes will serve the club long-term and offer fans, angered by his outburst, a reason to still appreciate him.
