Real Madrid’s president, Florentino Pérez, said we had heard it all before but we had not, not quite like this. Sergio Ramos had not even collected the European Cup, their third in a row, when Cristiano Ronaldo referred to it in the past – to all of it. “It was nice to be at Madrid,” he said, standing pitchside at the Olympic Stadium, Kiev. Was? “In a few days I will give a response to the fans, because they have always been at my side.” And so a historic moment shifted. The night had yet another narrative.
A few minutes earlier a pitch invader had stood between Ronaldo and a goal in the final, which might have helped to bring some of the sentiment to the surface but this, he later admitted, had been brewing for much longer: “When you hold on and hold on, when you have a heart and you’re honest, sometimes you lose control.” The stress on “have” as he stood by the pitch revealed that, while fans have supported him, others have not. There was a reflection of that desire for affection in the remark made by Sergio Ramos shortly after. Literally, it translates as: “Cris likes to let him himself be loved,” and it implies a want, a need, a call for attention, for appreciation.
Back in Madrid, at the statue of Cibeles where they celebrate titles, he got that. There were chants of “Ronaldo, stay!” But while the fans’ relationship with him has not always been perfect, when it comes to those whose support he has missed, Ronaldo was thinking principally of Pérez, and it was Pérez who responded. “Now is not the time for individual issues; the club is more important than anyone,” he said.
What came next was even more pointed. “I am glad he has five European Cups, like me.” And then he said it: “The same thing is heard every summer and then nothing happens.” They had not expected to hear it now, in the midst of celebration. They also did not expect to hear something similar from Gareth Bale, although that did feel different, Zinedine Zidane saying: “I understand him.”
Ronaldo had just won his fourth European Cup with Real Madrid, his fifth in total. This is their fourth in five years. Luka Modric likened it to the Bulls, the Lakers and the Celtics, basketball teams that established a dynasty. “Now you can call this a dynasty too.”
Marcelo called it a “special night” but now he was forced to field different questions. They all were. In the post-match press conference Zidane shrugged: “What do you want me to say? I can’t change what he said. But now it’s important to enjoy the moment.”
By the time Ronaldo appeared again it was past 1am and that message had clearly been conveyed to him as well. “The timing was not ideal,” he conceded. He insisted he did not want to sully the moment for his team-mates, “the real champions here”, and the contrition seemed genuine. But he was not backing down.
“Do you have something important to say?” he was asked. He replied: “Yes, of course; I’m not going to hide that. Maybe it wasn’t the time to say something, to get something off my chest, and I don’t want to throw away the credit that Madrid deserve, because this is something historic. But I won’t hide. I have a week now, to be calm, then I will join up with the national team on 4 June and I’ll say something. It was not the right moment and I didn’t mean to say that [then] but when you’re honest and you have a heart, things come out.”
Things a little like this have come out before, which is what Pérez was getting at. He did not sign Ronaldo but rather inherited a done deal and the relationship has not always been good. Ronaldo has publicly said he was “sad” before, he had felt alone at Fifa galas, during his legal battle with the Spanish tax authorities, and there have been difficulties over contract renewals. One theory is that the pursuit of Neymar has not helped, just as it did not help when Pérez once told Ronaldo that he could go if he brought them money to sign Messi instead.
Before Ronaldo last renewed his contract, negotiations had often appeared at breaking point. A year ago A Bola, a Portuguese sports newspaper, claimed he wanted to leave. Ronaldo never denied it but almost three months later he did remind people that the words were not actually his. These words were. “I cannot guarantee I will be at Madrid next season.” He was swift to insist this was not about money – nor jealousy. “I have five Champions leagues, five Ballon d’Ors, I’ve been top scorer six years in a row. Who am I going to be jealous of?”
Madrid know how important he is – or the players do, anyway, and so does Zidane – but at some point the club know they will have to confront a post-Cristiano Ronaldo era. His position has ramifications for Bale, too; the departure of one may help prevent the departure of the other. The question embarking on a new era is when and how. Ronaldo is 33 and Pérez is not averse to starting now but Ronaldo has accelerated since he turned 30, becoming more effective than ever.
“I know what I give the club,” Ronaldo insisted. Others, he feels, perhaps do not.
This has a long way to go, even if in the next few days he does, as promised, make an announcement and even if that does reveal a determination to depart, with everything that implies. Or if he announces a change of heart, a rapprochement. It might be that nothing happens, just as Pérez claimed, but this cannot play out quite like those other times; we have not heard this before.
“Where would you be better off than here?” Ronaldo was asked. “Difficult,” he said. “This is the best club in the world but life is not all about glory.”
No, but the moment was supposed to be. It was almost 3am when Ramos left the stadium. He dashed past journalists waiting for a word – about the final, about history, about Mohamed Salah, about Bale’s goal, now of course about Ronaldo. He hurried past, grinned, winked and nodded at the huge trophy he carried in his hands, as if to say this is all that matters. And on Saturday night in Kiev it should have been.
The Guardian Sport
