Ronaldo: We have lost a lot of time with this

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the happiest players at Real Madrid after the firing of Rafael Benitez. The relationship between the two was inexistent to the point that Ronaldo made it clear he wanted Benitez gone. Once the deed was done, Cristiano showed his satisfaction: “We have lost a lot of time with this,” he said. 

Those words are, according to El Confidencial, a demonstration of the fact Madrid’s players never had Benitez’s back. “A relationship that we irreconcilable from the beginning and did not improve with time,” wrote Antonio Sanz in his article. In addition to Cristiano, Benitez also clashed with James Rodriguez, Isco, Sergio Ramos, Jese, Karim Benzema, Cheryshev… and in the end Perez had to act. Benitez left feeling betrayed by the players and the president and for that reason he didn’t want to say goodbye to anyone. 

It’s not the first time Madrid’s players, and, in concrete, Cristiano Ronaldo, have turned on a manager. The clashes between Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho were a key reason in the Portuguese coach leaving Los Blancos. It was the opposite with Carlo Ancelotti, however. The squad supported the Italian and it was Perez’s personal decision to sack him.