Cristiano Ronaldo labels Rafa Benitez training 's***' at Real Madrid

Benitez was named new Real manager at the end of the season, a decision that drew little surprise in Spain - where his reputation remains high after his exploits with Valencia in the early 2000s.

In England and Italy, however, where Benitez's records with Liverpool and Napoli were rather spotty, there was huge shock that the Spaniard had landed one of the biggest jobs in sport.

And it seems that Ronaldo's view is more in line with that, if his unguarded comments caught by Spanish TV are any guide.

Ronaldo was recorded grumbling about how training was being conducted, muttering to team-mates that "only the fouls by the Portuguese are seen" during a training match.

Later, the squad was told to take part in a crossbar challenge with every player required to find the woodwork before ending their session - something which prompted Ronaldo to moan that the idea is to get the ball under the bar, "not this s**t".

With Ronaldo's comments having been picked up by microphones, Benitez was later asked about his relationship with his star player: "My relationship with him is as it is with the other players. I speak a lot with all of them," he said, before adding of the gripes, "He is very competitive and that is a virtue, not a defect."

This looks very bad - particularly following comments earlier in the week from a top football agent claiming that Ronaldo is laying the groundwork to leave the Bernabeu.

On top of that, there's Benitez's refusal to call Ronaldo the best player in the world - something you'd think would be in the job description of every single employee at Real Madrid, from the folk who man the tills at the staff canteens upwards.

Furthermore, with Gareth Bale seemingly being moved to a free-roaming number 10 role in the new regime, Ronaldo's importance in the side and freedom to play as he wishes look like being curtailed.

And while it's far too early to say that all this presages the beginning of the end, it's not hard to infer that Real Madrid are already moving towards a future without Ronaldo - just as Ronaldo appears to be moving towards a future away from Real Madrid.