Cristiano Ronaldo may be scoring truckloads of goals and winning trophies for Real Madrid faster than he could count, but not everything is falling his way it seems.
The 32-year-old scored a golazo in Real’s 3-1 triumph at Barcelona on the weekend, but his joy was short-lived as he was given a second yellow card for simulation soon after.
It was a controversial call by referee Ricardo De Burgos Bengoetxa, for replays suggested that there had been contact made by Barcelona Samuel Umtiti, which contributed to Ronaldo losing his balance.
However, there was to be another twist to the tale. An exasperated Ronaldo shoved the official before trudging off the pitch.
As expected, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) issued a five-match ban (including the automatic one-match ban for the red card) and while Los Blancos promptly appealed, their request fell on deaf ears as the initial ruling was upheld.
In response to the ban, Ronaldo posted a picture on Instagram with a message in his native Portuguese, which when translated, reads: “Impossible to be immune to this situation, 5 games !! It seems to me exaggerated and ridiculous, this is called persecution! Thanks to my teammates for the support and the fans !!!”