The fall-out from Real Madrid‘s victory over rivals Atletico in the final derby at the Vicente Calderon intensified on Sunday night after Koke was accused of a homophobic attack on Cristiano Ronaldo.
According to reports in Spain, Ronaldo was allegedly branded a ‘f****t’ by Spain international Koke during an altercation after the Real star had settled the game with a sublime hat-trick in a 3-0 win.
Spanish radio station Cadena Cope revealed the alleged exchange when the pair came to blows in the changing rooms, with the three-time Ballon d’Or winner responding to Koke’s alleged slur by saying, ‘A f****t with a lot of money, you b******.’
Tensions ran high between Koke and Ronaldo during the typically frenetic 90 minutes, with the two players emulating rutting stags at one point during the second half as Atletico fell nine points adrift of the La Liga leaders.
The confrontation boiled over in in the bowels of the creaking old stadium shortly after the end of the game, in the doorway of the away dressing room, where it was also claimed that Marcelo had a sly dig at Juanfran.
The Real Madrid full-back made reference to the Atletico defender’s crucial penalty miss in the Milan Champions League final defeat last season saying: ‘Juanfran couldn’t even when he had the balls.’
The rivalry between the two cross-town clubs has intensified since Diego Simeone led Atletico to the La Liga title in 2014, in the same year they were beaten in the first of two Champions League finals in the past three years by Real.
The Spanish radio station’s Juanma Castano claims that a Spanish team-mate of Ronaldo’s responded to Koke’s initial barb by asking him to repeat what he said, to which the Atletico forward reiterated his homophobic jibe.
Ronaldo is said to have then threatened Koke by saying, ‘If we see one another in Madrid, let’s see what I’m going to do…’ before making reference to Atletico’s inability to overcome their bitter rivals in the Champions League by questioning their ‘bottle’.
