Top 10 fallouts of 2017

#2 Sergio Ramos and Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo at the FIFA World Club Cup

After Real Madrid trounced Barcelona to win the Spanish Super Cup, Gerard Pique reluctantly admitted Real Madrid’s superiority. He had to; Madrid played scintillating football in both legs of the tie. In short, Madrid were in imperious form.

However, things went from bad to worse when Ronaldo shoved the referee, therefore, earning himself a five-match ban. Ronaldo’s suspension coincided with Real Madrid’s downward spiral in form. Even when Real Madrid were later able to name Ronaldo on the team sheet, the desired results still evaded them.

As a result of that unwanted change in fortune, Ronaldo felt his current teammates were not good enough, and castigated the club hierarchy’s decision to sell Alvaro Morata and James Rodriguez. Though club captain Sergio Ramos took exception to those comments by publicly dismissing Ronaldo's remarks.

C.Ronaldo and S.Ramos celebrating a goal when Real Madrid were winning regularly

Interestingly both Ramos and Ronaldo were right. With Benzema struggling in front of goal and Bale being injured with alarming regularity, one could argue that Madrid should not have let go of these exceptional players; after all, the club conquered Europe because they had fringe players who have the potential to play for any top team in the world.

On the other hand, Ronaldo waited until things changed for worse before he went public with his criticism. Also, as a leader, Ronaldo’s words could erode confidence in the youngsters tasked with filling Morata and Rodriguez’s shoes.