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Cristiano Ronaldo is a man who knows what he wants and he's not afraid to let his managers know it. The Portuguese superstar has had his fair share of fallouts with his gaffers over the years, with his uncompromising ego often coming to the fore.
But let's be real here. That same ego is also what has helped Ronaldo achieve the greatness that he has. It's what drives him to be the best, what pushes him to score those crucial goals and what makes him a leader both on and off the pitch.
Love him or hate him, there's no denying that Ronaldo is one of the game's greats, and that unyielding ego of his is a big reason why. On that note, let's take a look at five managers Ronaldo has fallen out with.
#5 Rafael Benitez
It appears that during Ronaldo's time at Real Madrid, he and Rafael Benitez had a bit of a spat over a pen drive. According to El Pais (via Sport), Benitez reportedly sent Ronaldo a pen drive with instructions on how to lose his marker.
Ronaldo reportedly sponded to it by saying,
"Tell Benitez that I will get him a pen drive with all my goals on it for him to study."
While the incident may have caused a bit of tension between the two, it's clear that Ronaldo was not afraid to speak his mind and demand the respect he felt he deserved. The pair reportedly had several run-ins over the course of Benitez's rather short stay in the Spanish capital.
In the end, it's just one more story in the colorful career of one of football's greatest-ever players.
#4 Rudi Garcia
Ronaldo joined Al-Nassr as a free agent in January earlier this year. The Saudi Arabian outfit have now sacked their manager Rudi Garcia, who was only roped in last summer.
Al-Nassr recently lost their spot at the top of the league table. This dip in form combined with Ronaldo's displeasure with Garcia's tactics is what reportedly led to the coach losing his job.
According to reports from the Saudi press (via AS), the Portuguese icon believes that Garcia has been holding the team back and has failed to get the most out of his players.
#3 Ralf Rangnick
We don't really need to rely on the gossip mill for evidence of Ronaldo's discontent with Ralf Rangnick during the former's second stint at Manchester United. Rangnick was appointed as the interim manager at United following the sacking of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer halfway through the 2021-22 season.
Although Rangnick's arrival was met with a sense of optimism, it soon became apparent that the team's performances only deteriorated under him. In his infamous interview with Piers Morgan in November, Ronaldo took no prisoners as he criticized Rangnick's time as manager of Manchester United.
He said:
“Of course, I respect we have to call him boss because he assumed the job regardless – all the coaches that I had in my career, I call them boss because if they assume the job we have to call them in that way.
“But deep inside me, I never saw him as the boss because I saw some points that I never agreed with and he’s stopping the time as well because if you’re not being a coach, then the next five years you’re going to lose the identity of, to be a coach, so it surprised me a lot."
#2 Fernando Santos
The 2022 FIFA World Cup was a tough tournament for Ronaldo. After failing to offer much of note as a starter in Portugal's three group matches, he was benched in the Round of 16 game against Switzerland.
Obviously Portugal manager Fernando Santos' decision to demote him to the bench did not go down well with Ronaldo. But reports claim that there was more to the rift between Santos and Ronaldo than just the lack of an end product on the pitch.
Ronaldo reportedly did not like getting hooked in the 65th minute of Portugal's group stage game against South Korea. Santos had to put his foot down and remind the 38-year-old who was in charge.
According to the Record (via Daily Mail), Ronaldo threatened to leave the squad after finding out that he'd been left out of the starting XI for the clash against Switzerland. The Portuguese FA refuted the claim but Record backed up and doubled down on their claims.
As per their subsequent report, Santos and Ronaldo shared a heated conversation after the latter found out about the team news for the game against Switzerland.
#1 Erik ten Hag
Current Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag had a fall-out with Ronaldo and the latter was in no mood to keep it a secret as he spilled the beans in his explosive interview with Piers Morgan in November.
Trouble started brewing between the two pretty early on. Ten Hag took charge of Manchester United last summer. Due to Ronaldo's absence during pre-season, he was forced to earn his status as a starter in the team when the season started.
Ronaldo failed to deliver the goods and was in poor form as he seemed to get permanently consigned to the bench. In his interview with Morgan, Ronaldo launched a tirade on Ten Hag and said (via Sky Sports):
"I don't have respect for him because he doesn't show respect for me. If you don't have respect for me, I'm never gonna have respect for you."
Ronaldo's comments ultimately proved to be ill-timed as Ten Hag has done a good job at Manchester United so far and has even led them to the Carabao Cup title this season. He also responded to Ronaldo's comments by questioning the player's commitment to the club. Ten Hag said (via Forbes):
"The interview I think, as a club, you can’t accept. There will be consequences. To make that step he knew the consequences. It was quite clear after [the interview] that he had to leave. I think we didn’t have to discuss it. It was quite clear.
"I think the club can only be successful when all the decision-makers in the club are on one page and they back each other. That is the only way the club can be successful and operate.
"I wanted him to stay from the first moment until now. He wanted to leave, it was quite clear. And when a player definitely doesn’t want to be in this club then he has to go.”
