Well, here we are again: Cristiano Ronaldo is hitting the headlines...for all the bad reasons. He abruptly left the national team camp. This stems from a lack of playing time after being promised of such. Portugal manager, Jorge Jesus, was forced to apologise for the omission.
A single interaction on social media has triggered a wave of criticism, with tension mounting over his future and his role with the "Brazil of Europe."
French website, "Foot Mercato," report that the row flared after Ronaldo liked a post claiming "no one can touch Cristiano." He had just left Portugal's camp following Jorge Jesus' decision to leave him on the substitutes' bench.
The timing could hardly have been more sensitive. Many read the Portugal captain's gesture as an indirect message about his standing in the squad; especially with questions piling up over his role and how he will be used in the coming phase.
At 41, Ronaldo remains one of the biggest names in the Portugal line-up. Yet, the debate over his appearances and technical role has grown louder as the national team edges towards life after its golden generation.
One like has become fresh fuel for Ronaldo's crisis with the national team. All eyes are now on the veteran's relationship with the coaching staff and his place in the dressing room.
The Al-Nassr forward's social media interaction comes at a difficult moment, having left Portugal's camp after Jorge Jesus left him on the bench during the 2-1 victory over Norway.
The post Ronaldo liked featured former Brazil international Felipe Melo questioning the level of respect shown to the Portugal captain by his team-mates.
Melo compared Ronaldo's treatment with the way Messi is respected by Argentina's players, saying:
"They don't treat Ronaldo the way Argentina's players treat Messi. None of them comes close to Cristiano. I might be wrong, but that's what I see from the outside."
"I see much more respect from opponents when Cristiano Ronaldo plays than from his teammates," Melo said.
The timing has naturally attracted attention given everything that has happened around Ronaldo's position in the squad.
Jesus made clear after the Norway game that he alone decides the starting line-up; before Ronaldo left the Portugal camp and flew out on his private jet.
That has led to further questions over the veteran's international future, particularly with Portugal gradually preparing for life beyond the generation that delivered so much success.
There has also been support for Ronaldo continuing with the national team. Former Juventus team-mate, Mehdi Benatia, said he hopes the forward returns to Portugal and receives the tribute he deserves.
For now, Ronaldo's decision to like Melo's post has added another layer to an increasingly public debate. The focus will now be on his relationship with Jesus and whether he returns to the Portugal squad for the next international window.
Piers Morgan has reacted angrily after Rafael Leao was handed Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous No. 7 shirt for Portugal’s Nations League clash with Denmark, calling the decision “disgusting”.
Ronaldo left Portugal’s training camp on Wednesday following a dispute with new manager Jorge Jesus, less than 24 hours before UEFA confirmed the squad numbers for the Denmark fixture.
Portugal then played the third Nations League match of this international period in Denmark and won 2-4 without Ronaldo. Afterwards, Jorge Jesus insisted there is no discord within the squad.
Despite that, the Portuguese FA want to bring Ronaldo back into the national team. According to MARCA, the FA are pushing for a reconciliation between Jesus and CR7 so they can then give him the farewell match for Portugal that he deserves.
The 41-year-old had been left on the bench during Portugal’s 2-1 win over Norway before returning home, with his international future now a major talking point.
Morgan, a long-time supporter of Ronaldo, criticised Portugal after the number was reassigned to Leão.
“Disgusting, if true. After everything Cristiano has done for Portugal, why the hell are they treating him like this? Yesterday was his father’s birthday, and he played for his country the day after his dad died. Shameful to see this shocking disrespect for their greatest player.”
However, Portugal didn't simply decide to take Ronaldo’s shirt away. International regulations require teams to allocate consecutive squad numbers from 1 to 23, meaning No. 7 cannot simply be left vacant when Ronaldo is unavailable.
After the win in Denmark, boss Jorge Jesus said: "I still think exactly the same way - there are players with status. That much is crystal clear. But I'll say it again - the rules are the same for everyone. That's a method I've followed throughout my coaching career and I'll continue to follow."
Ronaldo's sister, Elma Aveiro, had earlier written on social media: "Betrayal is a dish best served cold."
The forward has been effectively undroppable for years - having scored 146 goals and won 234 caps for Portugal.
In his less mobile older years, there has been a feeling that maybe the Al-Nassr player, who has 979 career goals, has been holding back his national team.
Ronaldo was reunited with his old boss at Al-Nassr Jesus this summer after Roberto Martinez resigned as Portugal head coach. The veteran captain started in the 1-0 Nations League win over Wales - but he didn't play in the 2-1 victory in Norway.
It was the first time since 2008 that Ronaldo had been an unused substitute for his country.
"He gets asked to warm up for the whole of the second half practically [without coming on]," said Spanish football expert Guillem Balague on BBC Radio 5 Live.
"There are tacit rules in football: you don't do that to Pele, to Diego Maradona, to Lionel Messi, to Cristiano, right? That's what he's seen, that you don't do that to those kind of players."
Jesus denied there was a rift but Ronaldo then left the camp - saying he would explain the reasons behind his departure "in time".
Balague, who wrote a book about Ronaldo in 2015, added: "Some journalists close to Cristiano have been saying one day we'll come out with the whole story. So there is something else that was said, perhaps promised to Cristiano, that has not been delivered.
"Cristiano has been a shareholder in some of the key media outlets in Portugal, so a story will be told somehow, somewhere, by some of these people and it will be a war and let's see who wins it."
Balague added that Ronaldo won't want this to be his Portugal farewell but that there may not be an easy reconciliation. Fellow Euro Leagues podcast guest James Horncastle said: "I am disappointed in Ronaldo's behaviour."
"As a captain, as a leader of the team, he should still be there. He should put side before self, and it doesn't look like he's doing that in this occasion."
It may have come as a surprise to many but Cristiano Ronaldo colliding with Jorge Jesus is one of the most anticipated fallouts ever. That's two of the biggest Portuguese egos in the same room together. There would never be enough cameras for both of them.
Ronaldo is arguably the country's greatest player of all time. Jesus, for his part, once said that he believed he was the world's best coach.
As debatable as that may have been, he's a man of strong convictions. Nothing that is happening now comes as a shock to Portuguese fans who have become used to Jesus' short temper and directness.
If ever there was going to be a man to challenge Ronaldo's status within Portugal's dressing room; it would be Jesus. He did that with Neymar at Al-Hilal; telling the Brazilian he was "finished."
As Belenenses manager, long before he became a household name, Jesus even confronted and stopped a soundcheck from American rapper 50 Cent at the Restelo stadium, forcing him to shut down because it was interfering with training.
He fears no-one and that represents a major break from the overly diplomatic style of his predecessor, Roberto Martinez. Ronaldo heard the message loud and clear, deciding to pack his bags and abandon the national team.
How much gratitude is enough? That's a question that Portuguese fans have been asking for a few years now. The whole soap opera that seems to follow the mere presence of the 41-year-old striker seems to have got to a point where patience is running out.
Of Portugal's last five coaches, Ronaldo had issues with four of them – Carlos Queiroz; Paulo Bento; Fernando Santos and now Jesus. That's too much distraction when Portugal has now arguably their best generation ever.
Moreover, that's not the behaviour you expect from the national team's captain but from a spoiled child who acts as if he had never heard a "no" in his life.
Spanish sports daily Marca said that Jesus and Portuguese federation president Pedro Proenca followed Ronaldo to Copenhagen airport in an attempt to persuade him to stay with the squad before the player boarded his private jet.
Jesus insisted earlier on Wednesday that there was no rift between him and Ronaldo; although the 72-year-old, who was appointed in July, acknowledged that his captain was disappointed to remain on the bench against Norway.
The news sparked a wave of memes on social media and a furious backlash from Ronaldo’s sister, Elma Aveiro.
"They don’t deserve to have the best of anything," she said about the Portuguese people on Instagram.
"We are envious, scornful, and ignorant, and we deserve to return to the mediocrity that defined us in the pre-CR7 era of football," she added, using his nickname.
The game in Oslo was the first time since November 2024 that Ronaldo had not featured for Portugal while not being either injured or suspended.
"There was no incident whatsoever," Jesus, who coached Ronaldo at Saudi club Al-Nassr for a year, insisted after that match. "Any player — and I was a player myself… when you spend 20 or 30 minutes warming up and then don’t get on… no one is happy about that,” Jesus added on Wednesday.
The Portuguese coach also said that he had told Ronaldo before the match that he might bring him on as a substitute.
“Afterwards, as coach, I decided not to bring him on. It’s nothing to make a fuss about," Jesus insisted.
After the win on Thursday, Jesus’s press conference was dominated by talk of Ronaldo. "This Portugal team scored four goals and put in a performance which, in my opinion, was of a very high standard," he said.
"Of course, this is more important than anything else that has happened. I still think exactly the same way: there are players with status. That much is crystal clear," he added. "But I’ll say it again: the rules are the same for everyone."
There were reports that Portuguese Prime Minister, Luis Montenegro, had even discussed the issue of Ronaldo’s involvement with the coach on Wednesday.
Jesus said earlier in the day, that against Denmark, he again intended to start AC Milan striker Goncalo Ramos; who scored the winner in Norway.
Regarding Ronaldo, he said: "If I need him, he’ll come on. If I don’t need him, he won’t." Ronaldo recently announced that this would "probably (be) my last year in football."
The former Sporting, Manchester United, Real and Juventus striker made his international debut aged 18 in 2003 and played in the Euro 2004 final when Portugal lost to hosts Greece.
He reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2006 and captained his country to glory at Euro 2016. Ronaldo and Portugal were eliminated by eventual winners Spain in the last 16 of this year’s World Cup.
I've grown tired of Ronaldo's behaviour. His belief that the world revolves around him pisses me off. I'm glad what Jesus did. Someone should put Ronaldo in his place and stop treating him like a king.
When someone has a God Complex like Ronaldo; it's hard for them to see things in the real world; they see and live life in fantasy land