Written by Andrew Coppens at Bloguin
It’s never good when your team president has to come out and publicly back you as a manager or coach, doubly not-so-good when cracks appear in the relationship between star player and manager.
Yet, that’s exactly what has happened in the aftermath of Real Madrid’s 4-0 defeat at home to arch-rival Barcelona.
Rafa Benitez, the first-year manager of his boyhood club, got the public backing of club president Florentino Perez, but the bigger issue may be a rift between the manager and star player Cristiano Ronaldo. Spanish paper AS first reported that Ronaldo gave the club the old “him or me” routine, insisting the club keeps him and dumps the manager or transfer him away from the club.
It’s a report that Benitez denies steadfastly though, stating there is no issue between one of the world’s best players and himself.
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