Speaking at the Ballon d’Or, where he was voted the best player in the world for the second successive year, Ronaldo said: “Madrid fans are always the same, they are very intense, they show what they feel, they aren’t liars. But I think the things with Gaz are normal because they know that Gaz is a very important player for us, a key player.

“What happened on Saturday is in the past, sometimes I make mistakes too so it’s part of the business, part of football. I think the people will be nice with him and they should be nice with him.”