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12.03.2015 » The reasons behind Cristiano Ronaldo's media blackout
Real Madrid's fifth loss in 2015 seems to have been taken by most of the Merengues fans as the last drop in their cup of tolerance. Since the beginning of the year, the team is yet to find a working formula for their football. After that 22-game winning streak that lasted right until the end of the 2014 calendar year, Real Madrid is now on a record of 8 wins, 5 losses and 2 draws in 2015. Even though the club still holds legitimate aspirations of winning the Spanish League title and renewing their European crown in the UEFA Champions League, it's the way the team has been playing for the past few months that has been worrying the Madridismo. Cristiano Ronaldo felt that in his skin this past Tuesday and he obviously didn't appreciate much hearing all that whistling and booing from his own fans at the Bernabéu. As a consequence of that, he decided not to speak to the journalists until the season ends...
Cristiano Ronaldo - The hard way to be remembered:
• The post-game reactions
Shortly after the game against Schalke 04 was over this past Tuesday and as it usually happens in the Bernabéu, Real Madrid players started heading out from their locker room in order to return to their homes. On that walk, they have to go through an area where journalists are usually awaiting them in order to ask a few questions and try to get some quick interviews with the players. When Cristiano Ronaldo passed by in that mixed zone, he made sure he would let clear to everyone that he wasn't in the mood to talk not only on that night, but also in the remaining of the season...
Ronaldo: "I'm not going to talk. I will not talk to the press again until the end of the season", stated the Portuguese forward, as he rushed to leave the area and return home as quick as possible. At the same time he was walking away from the journalists, Iker Casillas was already nearby answering some of the questions that were being addressed to him.
Earlier this Thursday, it was Real Madrid's president Florentino Pérez who tried to play down the situation, as he was commented the incident and also assured the press that Carlo Ancelotti's job is not at risk regardless of what may had been published by MARCA, a Spanish sports newspaper.
Florentino Pérez: "I'm sure Ronaldo will speak again soon, especially after we win again the UEFA Champions League. The level of demand in Real Madrid is always extremely high and it's normal that throughout the season, all our top players go through a few highs and lows in their form", remarked the renowned Spanish businessman.
• The context
So looking back at what happened in this last game against Schalke, how can we explain what went through Cristiano Ronaldo's mind in order to take such a drastic measure? Should it be interpreted as an action merely against the media or is there someone else who really got under his skin lately?
It won't shock anyone to hear that Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't been in the best form of his life since the ball started rolling in 2015. From the 15 fixtures Real Madrid has had so far this year, Cristiano Ronaldo only missed two and those were due to a suspension he received after seeing a red card in a league game against Cordoba. In those 13 matches he has played in he did score a total amount of 9 goals, but his performances' level have been slightly off the standards he got us used to in the past. The team's very poor displays week in and week out have certainly not helped much in that regard either...
As we started watching this game against Schalke and given the evident apathy from several Real Madrid players on the pitch from the moment the ball started rolling, we knew it would only be a matter of time until the majority of the home fans in the stadium started booing their own players. It happened with Casillas, Coentrão, Khedira, Bale and also with Cristiano Ronaldo. We all know how sensitive the Portuguese superstar old can be with these matters and he clearly didn't take it well...
• The reasons for the media blackout
The first signs that his relationship with the fans had seen better days came up when he scored the first equalizer around the 25th minute of the first half. Ronaldo showed off how lethal he can be inside the box when a good cross is sent in and his celebration basically told it all. He gestured in rage at the same time he swore a few words in Portuguese and while running back to his half of the pitch.
As the game progressed and Schalke kept putting Madrid under pressure, the home fans decided to intensify the booing against their own players, instead of simply backing them up and supporting their team as they are supposed to. Schalke was capitalizing on the extra pressure coming from that negative atmosphere between the home players and their fans, and it just didn't result in Real Madrid being eliminated of the Champions League because the German side ended up missing a couple good chances at the end.
Ronaldo was visibly annoyed with the way the fans were treating him and his teammates in such an important and difficult period of the tie and a few seconds before the final whistle, TV cameras caught him commenting with Benzema that what had happened on that night had been incredibly shameful...
Could this mean that Ronaldo has finally fed up with Real Madrid fans and will now consider a move abroad to Manchester United or any other top club interested in his services next summer? Can this relationship still be fixed if Real Madrid gets some silverware at the end of the season and convince their fans with better performances from now onwards? How will Ronaldo digest everything that happened until now and how will that affect his love for the club?
Cristiano Ronaldo next game will be for the Spanish League against Levante, on March 15 of 2015. You can watch Juventus live stream, Real Madrid vs Levante, Eibar vs Barça, Burnley vs Manchester City, Arsenal vs West Ham, and Werder Bremen vs Bayern Munchen, all live matches provided from our football streaming pages.
Real Madrid next game:
Real Madrid vs Levante kick-off time (15-03-2015):
Jakarta (Indonesia) | GMT+6: 02:00
Spain (Madrid) | GMT+1: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | GMT+0: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | GMT-4: 16:00
New York (United States) | GMT-5: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | GMT-8 12:00
Beijing (China) | GMT+7: 03:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / goal.com / rm.com / guardian.com / uefa.com / sky.com
