5 managers Cristiano Ronaldo infamously clashed with: Ten Hag, Santos…

Cristiano Ronaldo will be remembered as one of the greatest footballers ever to live and breathe, but also one with perhaps one of the biggest egos in the sport.

While there is no doubting the Portuguese forward’s unwavering desire to win and his elite mentality, there’s no denying the size of his ego, which has reared its head on several occasions throughout his career when disagreeing with certain managers.

He’s a cult of personality like no other in football and doesn’t ever attempt to hide his feelings. Here are five managers Ronaldo has butted heads with.

Erik ten Hag

Ronaldo infamously gave an interview to Piers Morgan in late 2022 where he went on a scathing rant about life at United during his second spell at the club, taking aim at Ten Hag in the process, who had dropped Ronaldo to the bench for a win at home against Tottenham. When he tried to bring Ronaldo on, he refused to come on.

He spoke out that November, claiming he had no respect for the Dutchman, who he believed didn’t respect him. Despite leaving United as a result, he just couldn’t resist having another dig at Ten Hag in a new, 2024 interview with Rio Ferdinand, stating: “The coach… They say they cannot compete to win the [Premier] League and Champions League.

“[If you are] Manchester United coach, you cannot say that you’re not going to fight to win the league or Champions League. You have to be, to mentally say, ‘listen, maybe we don’t have that potential, but I cannot say that. We’re going to try.’ You have to try.”

Ralf Rangnick

Ten Hag wasn’t the only coach Ronaldo had a whinge about with Piers Morgan in 2022. In fact, poor Ralf Rangnick took the brunt of it.

“If you’re not even a coach, how are you going to be the boss of Manchester United? I’d never even heard of him,” He remarked about the German, who took over at United on interim basis following Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s sacking in late 2021.

A report from German publication BILD in 2023 claimed that Ronaldo had informed Rangnick he was to start four in every five United matches, being left at home completely for the fifth rather than being dropped to the bench. How’s that ego doing, Cristiano?

Fernando Santos

The former Portugal boss actually did a very good job of stroking Ronaldo’s ego sufficiently for the majority of his eight years in charge of the national team, winning Euro 2016 and the 2018-19 Nations League.

However, it all ended in tears as their relationship deteriorated towards the end, with Santos struggling and Ronaldo’s powers fading. He revealed to A Bola in 2023 that the pair hadn’t spoken since Portugal’s quarter-final exit at the 2022 World Cup, where Santos substituted the forward in a defeat to South Korea and started him on the bench in the next two games as they were eventually eliminated by Morrocco.

Citing match fitness reasons, Santos explained: “I made a tactical decision in Qatar and for that you need to understand a little bit about the background. I have already said that he is the best in the world but at that moment it was very difficult for him.

“In the second half of 2022 he had six months that were terrible, even from a personal point of view,” He added, maintaining that he would’ve made the same decision a year on.

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Andrea Pirlo

The legendary Italian found difficulty in managing Ronaldo after he took charge of the Old Lady in what was his first job in senior football management, although has tried to play down that difficulty in recent times.

After he substituted Ronaldo in a Coppa Italia victory over Inter at the beginning of 2021, Pirlo came out swinging after being asked about the decision by reporters: “There is no contract clause that says he can’t be subbed off.”

He has since insisted that there were no issues between him and Ronaldo at Juve, but told the Daily Mail in the same interview in 2023: “We didn’t have a problem but football changes very quickly. Age also.”

Tell us how you really feel, Andrea.

Jose Mourinho

A clash of two of the biggest egos in football at arguably the sport’s most storied and intense club, it would’ve been extremely weird if Mourinho and Ronaldo didn’t have regular tiffs.

The pair were often seen exchanging harsh words on the touchline at Real Madrid, but it was never anything too serious, which Mourinho explained on the FIVE YouTube channel in February 2024: “You have guys like Cristiano, where you are playing against Levante and you are winning five-nil and you tell the guy to relax and take a rest. ‘No, no, no, I can score one more goal!’

“When you have guys like this, you know the boat is in the water and you just let the boat go and in the end you enjoy the fight,” He conceded.

“Motivation, you don’t need to give him. Ambition, you don’t need to give him. Technique, you don’t need to give him. You give some tactical adjustments and let the guy be happy.”