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Not everyone connected with Real Madrid celebrated Cristiano Ronaldo's last-minute winner on Tuesday night at the Bernabeu.
With the Portuguese on his knees in the penalty area, his manager adopting the same position on the touchline and the majority of the 70,000 crowd arms aloft, Iker Casillas stood hands on hips as if he was watching a throw-in.
That the Madrid captain was so underwhelmed by what was Real's first comeback in a Champions League game in seven years was not lost on those convinced the Casa Blanca remains a house divided.
Real Madrid had won, but so had Jose Mourinho, who risked everything on a team that had started without the flair of Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil, and most importantly without Sergio Ramos.
Mourinho's fondness for shaking up a dissenting and complacent dressing-room is nothing new, but he had never tried it with a national hero before. The decision to drop Ramos was made last Sunday after the defender had said: "It is strange that the manager is taking such a hard line after just four games."
Back in August 2005, Chelsea were beginning the defence of their Premier League title and it was Ricardo Carvalho talking out of turn. After being left out of the first game of the season, the Portuguese defender said the decision was "incomprehensible" and soon found himself in permanent dry dock until he had made a dressing-room apology. Arjen Robben was also benched after storming down the tunnel, having been taken off in a win over Arsenal.
The difference between 2005 and 2012 is that Mourinho has just presided over one of the worst starts in Real's recent history and Ramos is a World Cup winner and two-time European champion.
The standing ovation David Silva was given by Madrid supporters when he was taken off in the second half of Tuesday's game spoke volumes for what Spain duty means to the Madrid fans.
Ramos' contribution to those three tournament wins was immense and his Panenka-style penalty against Portugal in the semi-final remains one of the moments of last summer's triumph.
Had Mourinho lost with Ramos on the bench, he would have had little room to wriggle in the post-match inquest. But he didn't lose. And in 10 years as a Champions League coach he has never lost his first game.
It didn't look that way with six minutes left but, with Ramos on the bench and Casillas apparently unmoved, that was how it turned out. (© Independent News Service)
