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Cristiano Ronaldo was on the defensive. The Portuguese told the media on Tuesday that Real Madrid's forwards do not need to be friends like Barcelona trio Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez. What he does need, however, is Gareth Bale back fit and on form at the end of this season.
Barca's front three led the Catalan club to the treble in 2014-15 and was recently described by coach Luis Enrique as "the best trident in the history of football".
Messi, Neymar and Suarez have been even better this season and were again in the headlines after putting on an exhibition of attacking football in Sunday's 6-1 win over Celta Vigo, which included the Argentine opting to assist Luis Suarez rather than shoot from the penalty spot.
The three are always pictured together in training and during warm-ups and never tired of speaking about their great relationship. "The ideal situation is that players can all be friends," Luis Enrique said on Tuesday. "We see the way Messi, Suarez and Neymar celebrate, the way they enjoy each goal. They joke a lot. Their friendship makes it even better for us."
But Ronaldo rejected that idea in his side's pre-match press conference in Rome. "How do we know that [their relationship] is that way?" he said. "It is only because that is what is written.
"When I was at [Manchester] United, I didn't speak [off the pitch] to [Ryan] Giggs, [Paul] Scholes and [Rio] Ferdinand apart from the normal 'good morning', but we won the Champions League.
"We talked on the pitch and that is all that mattered. Does it matter that I don't go out for dinner with [Karim] Benzema or that Bale does not come around my house? It's not important. This thing about the little meals, the little hugs, the little kisses. To me that doesn’t mean anything."
Ronaldo and Bale have both maintained in the past that their relationship is a good one, yet gestures and awkwardness at times indicate it is not as always as smooth as they make out. Does that matter? Perhaps not. But a friendship, as Luis Enrique says, is surely the best-case scenario.
Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo are all top professional players, in any case, and when the three combine effectively, their BBC trident can also be extremely impressive - as it was when Real Madrid won the Champions League in 2013-14.
The problem at the moment, however, is the absence of Bale through injury. Scoring in that final against Atletico remains the Welshman's finest hour in a Madrid shirt as, although his performances have been encouraging in the current campaign, he has once again spent far too long on the sidelines.
Since moving to Madrid in the summer of 2013, Bale has suffered eight separate muscle injuries and missed 41 games of possible 150 games, playing only 63 per cent of the total minutes in those fixtures.
Many Madrid fans are losing patience with the €100 million signing and coach Zinedine Zidane has told Bale to let him know when he is ready to return from his calf problem. "This will take its time," he said on Friday. "I want him to be back and at 100%. I don't want him at 80%."
The nature of Bale's game means he is prone to muscle injuries when running in full flight and Zidane is wise to wait for the player to reach full fitness before bringing him back. Bale had looked so impressive as he hit a hat-trick in the Frenchman's first game (against Deportivo La Coruna) and then netted again in the second (versus Sporting Gijon) before limping off.
Statistically, the former Tottenham man's 13 goals in 17 appearances this term is easily his best spell since moving to Spain and his presence in the team makes Madrid's attack much more dynamic as well. His pace and ability to break with speed stretches defences and gives Ronaldo space to exploit in the centre. Put simply: with Bale in the side, Cristiano is a better player.
After more reports of a difficult relationship earlier this season, the two forwards hugged on the turf in a 4-3 win away to Shakhtar Donetsk in late November and Ronaldo stared into the camera, presumibly to make sure it was all being captured on film. That night, of course, the Portuguese was happy with his team-mate after the Welshman set up his two goals in Ukraine. When Bale is assisting Cristiano, their relationship is just fine.
If they are to have a chance of winning the Champions League this season, that is just what Madrid need - along with Bale's goals in the latter part of the season. So Ronaldo is right: friendship is not necessarily the most important thing. But winning titles together can only help that too.
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