Cristiano Ronaldo branded 'arrogant' after 'mocking player's wages' in ugly incident

A former opponent of Cristiano Ronaldo has recalled a furious spat between himself and the 'arrogant' five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

Ronaldo has represented Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and now Al Nassr during an illustrious playing career.

He won four of his five Ballon d'Or titles while with Real between 2009 and 2018, also winning two La Liga titles and four Champions League crowns.

Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorers in football history, having scored 938 goals during his career thus far, but has occasionally been known to rub opponents up the wrong way while on the pitch.

One such occasion occurred in January 2011, when he was involved in a tunnel confrontation with Walter Pandiani during a La Liga clash between Real and Osasuna.

The striker, who formerly played in the Premier League with Birmingham City, was said at the time to be furious after Ronaldo allegedly mocked his salary.

He told Spanish radio: "In my country he would have perhaps needed to ask for an appointment with a dentist in a situation such as that."

Pandiani has not let the matter slide since then, claiming in 2014 that Ronaldo only won that year's Ballon d'Or because he 'cried so much'.

Now, over 14 years on, the 49-year-old - who retired from playing in 2016 - has once again addressed the verbal row with the Portuguese icon and exactly what caused it.

Speaking in a new interview with Diario AS, Pandiani explained: "The crowd at El Sadar is very aggressive, and they were whistling and insulting him from the moment he came out to warm up. That p***ed him off, and while practicing free kicks, he was shooting at the crowd.

"[After] a foul against Madrid, Cristiano pushed my team-mate [Javier] Camunas and I went to defend him.

"I pushed him [Ronaldo], and he asked me who I was and how much I was paid.

"The brawl continued in the changing room tunnel with him and Sergio Ramos. I was very angry, and so were they.

"I didn't like his attitude at all. He was an arrogant guy. As a goalscorer, he was tremendous, but his behaviour left a lot to be desired."