A former Real Madrid boss has now opened up about a reported bust-up he had with Cristiano Ronaldo in 2016, insisting that lies were told.
Rafael Benitez had a turbulent tenure in charge of Los Blancos between July 2015 and January 2016, with reports back then suggesting the manager had a big bust-up with the Portuguese superstar.
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At the time, it was claimed the Spaniard had sent Ronaldo a USB flash drive filled with pictures and videos in a bid to help the striker improve his ability to lose his marker.
It was said the now-Al Nassr star did not take kindly to this, and declined to look at the study material.
In addition, Ronaldo reportedly sent a message to Benitez through one of the other coaches at the club.
"Tell Benitez that I'll send him a USB drive with all my goals on it for him to study," the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was alleged to have said, per El Pais.
However, Benitez has now given his version of the truth in that moment.
"The only comment I made to Cristiano Ronaldo, as I knew him from Manchester United, is that we analyse how he was shooting free-kicks," he told Cadena SER.
"We looked at the trajectory, see if we can make any adjustments, saw we couldn't and forgot about it.
"It's my only conversation with him. Everything else is a lie.
"When he takes free-kicks, when I leave, his stats are worse.
"I was surprised that journalists I knew would say that without talking to me."
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The former Liverpool boss also revealed that he walked into an "unfavourable environment" upon joining Real.
"When we arrived in Madrid, [Carlo] Ancelotti had just left, he had a very good relationship with the players, and it seemed that we arrived with a whip.
"There was an unfavourable environment: the departure of [Iker] Casillas, Keylor Navas, the arrest of [Karim] Benzema... There are complicated situations.
"And when everything gets complicated, who pays? Me.
"Cristiano, knowing what he was like, you had to guide him
"The problem is when you have to guide seven, some of them don't play, they're not happy. And they go to the media to leak it."
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