Cristiano Ronaldo began his stint on the sidelines in a corporate box with his pregnant girlfriend at the Bernabeu as his replacements shone. First it was Marco Asensio with a fourth-minute stunner and then Karim Benzema, so often forced to watch on himself from the bench, joining the party.
That put Real Madrid 5-1 up on aggregate and demanding an unlikely comeback to claim the Spanish Super Cup.
Ronaldo wore all black, including a T-shirt and cap, and sat alongside his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez in the posh seats as his side took a 2-0 first-half lead.
He then joined his team-mates on the pitch after the match for the celebrations – after changing into a white home shirt, of course.
Earlier in the day he slammed Spanish authorities’ decision to uphold his five-match ban – one game for a second yellow card send off and four more for his push on the referee in the first leg.
He said the ban was “exaggerated and ridiculous” after he was given the minimum for contact the referee when the maximum for the offense was said to be 12 matches.
The Portuguese also labelled the turned down appeal of his ban as “persecution” in an explosive Instagram post.
