Ronaldo just wants to be adored as lap of the gods saves Rayo

It is difficult to get inside the head of Cristiano Ronaldo. Alex Ferguson certainly tried after the 2006 World Cup, when the Portuguese was vilified for his winking-to-the-bench antics after Wayne Rooney had been sent off. Persuaded to stay at Old Trafford, the winger began openly courting Real Madrid after United’s 2008 Champions League win, claiming nothing remained to be achieved at the club and that his dream had always been to play at the Bernabéu. Unlike most players of Latin heritage, Ronaldo did not use the excuse of the Manchester climate in seeking his exit, but rather that he felt a lack of love raining down from the stands.

Real Madrid should not have been overly surprised then, when the surly Portuguese scored twice against Granada on Sunday night, celebrated neither strike and told the press after the match that he was “sad” at the Bernabéu, and people at the club “knew the reason why.” Ronaldo then flounced from the stadium to join up with the Portugal squad, leaving a tantalizing void for the rumor mill to crank into action.

There are many theories: Ronaldo himself denied he was sulking after losing out to Andrés Iniesta in the voting for UEFA European Player of the Year, but the anguish etched on his face last Thursday told another story. Some media outlets have claimed Ronaldo met with Florentino Pérez at the weekend and expressed a desire to leave, citing a lack of support in the locker room. Rarely does Ronaldo receive the same sort of affection during a match as, for example, Mesut Özil or Ángel di María, both players who joined after and neither of whom have scored 150 goals in 149 games for the club like the Portuguese.

Essentially, Ronaldo wants what everybody wants, regardless of their station: to be adored. But wherever he goes he polarizes opinion like no other. Even fans of the Portugal national team, gifted one of the finest players the world has ever seen, have warmed slowly to their superstar. Towards the end of his spell at United, Ronaldo would occasionally refuse to celebrate a goal; the Old Trafford terraces responded by refusing to sing his name. The cracks soon turned into fissures and Pérez strutted into the fray with his check book.

Earlier this year Ronaldo described Ferguson as a father figure and said he missed his old teammates. Responding to criticism over his transfer policy two seasons ago, Ferguson said big-money signings were a thing of the past in an inflated market, adding: “I’d pay 60 million to take Ronaldo back, but that’s about it.” Seminal Manchester band The Stone Roses staged a glorious comeback recently. Could Ronaldo be considering a second coming?

Miracle in Vallecas

Everything that could go wrong for Rayo, did go wrong on Sunday, when it hosted Sevilla in the early kick-off. But somehow the modest Madrid side managed to hang on for a battling point in a goalless tie. Having won its first two matches of the season Rayo was riding high for the visit of Míchel's work-in-progress Sevilla, which was looking to build on its opening day success over Getafe on its return journey north to the capital.

On seven minutes Álvaro Negredo -- the Beast of Vallecas, whose career began at Rayo, his local club -- stepped up to the spot after being felled by Jordi Amat, but crashed his shot into the post. Iván Rakitic fared little better in the second half when he was presented with a 12-yarder having been hauled down by Rayo goalkeeper Rubén, who had kept the home side in the game with a series of fine saves. However, the Croatian scuffed his shot wide of substitute keeper Dani Giménez's post, leaving Míchel fuming on the touchline.

In Bilbao, Marcelo Bielsa was given a bit of breathing space as Athletic chalked up a first win of the season, importantly not conceding as it had done with troubling regularity in its opening two matches. With Fernando Llorente still banished from the side it fell to Aritz Aduriz to lead the line and the striker, currently in his third stint with the club, obliged with a goal on 69 minutes. Markel Susaeta added a glorious second five minutes later and the contest was over. The season, though, still promises to be a fairly fraught one for Bielsa.

Mallorca and Málaga shot to the top of the table, with only Barcelona able to topple the former from first with victory over Valencia in Sunday's late game, with narrow victories over Real Sociedad and Zaragoza respectively. Both clubs have endured turbulent fiscal concerns recently and will likely not be crowing from their perch for too long. But each showed enough gumption to at least dispel the specter of the bottom three as a future berth.

There was cheer in Galicia as well as Celta scored its first victory of the season with a 2-0 win over Osasuna and Deportivo remained unbeaten as it held off Getafe at the Riazor in a 1-1 tie. Both sides were promoted last year. Osasuna sank to the bottom of the pile after its third straight loss and has only found the net once in 270 minutes so far.