By Chris Wright
‘Saint’ Iker Casillas was once again benched for Real Madrid’s first La Liga game of 2013 having also been left out of their last fixture of 2012, however his replacement betwixt the sticks, Adan, was sent-off rather harshly after just six short minutes of their game against Real Sociedad, with Casillas stepping into the breach.
As a slightly misguided show of solidarity/respect, Cristiano Ronaldo – who himself was captaining Madrid for the first time – then offered Casillas the captain’s armband after Sociedad had dispatched the subsequent penalty, though the substitute ‘keeper quite rightly refused the gesture, unwilling to undermine Jose Mourinho’s decisions…
As inert as Ronaldo’s gesture was, it seemed to stir up a fair bit of drama at the time, with many Twitter-based fans drawing the conclusion that Ronaldo was openly showing he disagreed with Mourinho’s team selection and that the dischord is a clear indication that Mourinho’s time at the Bernabeu is nearly at an end – which is, of course, a load of old tish and fipsy.