In 2005, Ronaldinho became only the second Barcelona player since Diego Maradona to receive a standing ovation from Real Madrid fans at the Bernabeu. He scored two utterly outrageous goals in a 3-0 win in the Clasico, as Barcelona undressed their Galactico rivals. Barca/Madrid is a clash generally irradiated by hatred, so for Ronaldinho to reduce Madrid supporters to such awed acceptance is a testament to exactly how well he played. Here's the second goal, which reduced Madrid fans to applause:
https://youtu.be/IsWuIDTLuxc
2005/06 was Ronaldinho's last great season as a player, and the arrival of Pep Guardiola as manager in 2008 heralded his departure. Pep showed Ronaldinho and Deco the door as he believed they were bad influences upon Leo Messi. Ronaldinho accepted the young Messi into his social circle at Barca when the Argentine was first breaking through: he reserved a seat at his canteen table for Messi, and would frequently bring him out for dinner with the other Brazilian players.
This story from Andrés Iniesta shows how Ronaldinho was once excellent for team morale. Ahead of that 2005 Clasico, Iniesta remembers how Ronaldinho fostered team unity ahead of his team's biggest game of the year
A few days before the Clasico against Real Madrid, 'Dinho' called me at home at night. I answered and he told me 'Andrés, I know it's 3am, but I have to confess something. In June I will be leaving Barca. My brother has an agreement with Real Madrid. It's an incredible amount that I can't refuse.
You're young, you can understand...But please do not tell anyone in the locker room or the club, do not betray me, I trust you more than anyone. Andrés, good night'.
He didn't give me time to say anything. The next day, we were in training camp and I felt an awkward atmosphere around me. The whole team was silent and they were all greeting Ronaldinho like never...
When the day of the Clasico came, in the locker rooms of Santiago Bernabeu 'Dinho told us: 'Guys, today is a very important game, they are strong, but these days I discovered that we were like a family. I called each of you during the night and I told you that I was leaving in June, but none of you spoke.
After that I realised that we were ready to suffer in silence rather than betray each other. I'll stay here again for a long time...now let's go into the field and give a lesson to these players of Madrid!
Incredible. For all that went wrong later at Barca, it appears that Ronaldinho was once a quite magnificent team player.
This was originally reported as being from an excerpt from Iniesta's upcoming autobiography. This is not the case, and is, in fact, from an interview Iniesta conducted in Spain last year.
See Also: The Sad Decline Of Ronaldinho: The Little Ronaldo Who Couldn't Grow Up
