Former Real Madrid captain Iker Casillas has defended former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo after he reacted angrily to more whistles from his own team's fans at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.
Ronaldo has been barracked by Madrid supporters on and off over recent years, even as he became the club's record all-time scorer and helped them win two Champions League trophies in the last three years.
There were more whistles and boos after he had misplaced some passes early in Sunday's 3-0 La Liga win at home to Real Sociedad, with video appearing to show the Portugal captain responding by mouthing an offensive phrase in the direction of the stands. He then provided an assist and goal as Zinedine Zidane's side stretched their lead at the top of the title.
Casillas, now at Porto, told Onda Cero's "El Transistor" show that he could not understand the "madness" of the Ronaldo criticism.
"These things happen in stages, Cristiano sells a lot, and demands a lot of himself," Casillas, who also faced whistles during his time with Madrid, said. "Along with [Leo] Messi he is the best in the world -- he has this ... this responsibility.
"As a Madridista, sometimes you don't understand why it can happen. Six months ago Madrid were European champions, one month ago they were world champions. He has just won the trophy as the world's best player. Last year I remember a difficult moment before [Rafa] Benitez left. Then at the end of the season they were in the clouds with the Champions League.
"If he scores two or three goals a game, that is just what he is supposed to do. It is madness. You must help him -- have people around him and the club who help to protect the players. He must continue trying to be the player he is, the best in the world."
On "El Larguero," ex-Madrid striker Hugo Sanchez said Ronaldo might be better off "biting his tongue" in future.
"It is difficult. I suffered many difficult situations, lots of insults, but playing away from home," Sanchez said. "At the Bernabeu, you expect support and affection to lift you. I never confronted the fans there -- at the Camp Nou yes, but not the Bernabeu. Maybe Cristiano needs to bite his tongue and think about it as a bad relationship does not help. You have to just take it, they can insult you, but you cannot insult them."
Sanchez said that even if the 31-year-old's contribution to the team would inevitably drop a little as the years passed, his team's fans should help him.
"It is something strange that is happening with Cristiano," he said. "The fans are very demanding, and even more when Ronaldo season after season is the leader and goal scorer who gets the team out of difficult moments.
"They get used to him scoring so many goals and just expect it to always happen. So when his level drops a little, it seems he is in freefall. It is impossible to repeat what he did last year, but he still has two or three years at the maximum level for Madrid.
"Maybe some people don't like some of his attitude, but Cristiano is like that, that is his personality. He was signed from Manchester United because he is like that, because he played like this. So if we have loved him so much for that, we must keep respecting him, supporting him, and helping him."