Ronaldo slams his teammates after derby defeat

Cristiano Ronaldo needs to take a long, hard look in the mirror – OK, Ronnie, you’re not supposed to enjoy this. You can stop now.

Ronaldo’s pretty, marketable face couldn't distract from his ugly comments on Saturday following Real Madrid's 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu. The biggest superstar in Spain’s capital city, along with his expensive teammates, failed to produce over 90 minutes in a match that kept Los Blancos nine points adrift of league leader Barcelona.

"If everyone was as good as me, maybe we would be first," the Portuguese foolishly spewed following an altogether forgettable performance from the home side. "If a team does not play with the best, [it] is difficult to win a long competition."

Ronaldo subtly gave up on the La Liga title with his comments, as Barcelona has a game in hand and the previous weekend's draw had imbued talk of the race already being over.

"From what the press says it seems like I am doing [expletive] but the numbers and statistics do not lie. They are there," Ronaldo went on to somehow sound even more selfish.

Ronaldo's records and talent, overall, cannot be questioned. The Lionel Messi diehards spend their days promoting propaganda that Messi is better than Ronaldo, which is a compliment to Ronaldo's achievements. However, the Portuguese's attitude and recent outbursts serve as notice that he may be doing more harm than good at this stage.

Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane, who took his first defeat as manager, hinted that the result may well cost him his job. "Next year, there might be changes, players and coach," he said.

"I cannot be happy with the defeat, with what happened, the game we played," Zidane added. "Of course it is a difficult moment. It always screws you to lose a derby at home. But we must be professional and think about the next game."

Zidane took blame with his words following a poor performance in an important fixture and came away sounding like a leader. Ronaldo promoted his individual greatness and trashed his teammates and came away sounding like a selfish brat.

For all the records Ronaldo holds, his recent performances against Atletico Madrid are nothing worth bragging about. The 31-year-old has only scored one goal in his last six meetings against the city rivals. Over that stretch, Real Madrid has lost twice, drawn thrice and only won once.

Following yet another embarrassing home failure against Atleti, Ronaldo should have accepted his share of the blame and moved forward. Instead, he focused on his own greatness and threw his teammates under the bus.

Specifically, Ronaldo pointed to youngsters Lucas Vazquez, Jese Rodriguez and Mateo Kovacic as not being good enough, though he later walked back those comments by stating that he was talking about physical conditioning.

In the wake of Zidane’s comments about changes coming to the club in the summer, Ronaldo’s rant begs questions about his future at the Spanish club.

Should Real Madrid sell Ronaldo?

Yes. Pure and simple.

Ronaldo has been tremendous during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu and broken every club scoring record imaginable, but Real Madrid would be wise to offload its superstar. The former Manchester United winger holds Real Madrid's club record with 324 goals, which bettered Raul’s previous mark of 323. Ronaldo also reached his tally in fewer than half as many games, so his quality in Madrid’s white shirt should never have been questioned.

However, Real Madrid needs a leader on the pitch to stop the never-ending revolving door of mangers on the sidelines. With his latest comments, Ronaldo again proved that he is not that player. He is not the guy who will age gracefully and share the stage with young, emerging talents.

Gareth Bale’s arrival, the lies about his transfer fee to keep Ronaldo happy and the numerous examples of Ronaldo's petty jealousy over the past couple of seasons have continually reinforced that the Portuguese could not lead Real Madrid into a new era. Pointing out that his teammates are not as great as him is no way to inspire a losing locker room to rally or to build team harmony.

Ronaldo still holds tremendous value, and Madrid will likely never find a better time to sell their superstar.

Can Real Madrid sell Ronaldo?

For all his flaws, Ronaldo is far from washed up. Ronaldo leads the Champions League with 12 goals, which is five better than any other player on the continent. In La Liga, only Luis Suarez has more goals than Madrid's No. 7. As it stands, Ronaldo is still in line to make the Ballon d'Or shortlist at the end of 2016, which would place him as one of the sport's top three players.

Most of Europe’s big clubs should be interested in Ronaldo’s services, but the Premier League’s bursting budgets (thanks to a new television deal) should provide Real Madrid an acceptable bid – if the club is interested, of course.

Also, Carlo Ancelotti’s arrival at Bayern Munich could serve as a path to moving Ronaldo to the Bundesliga, which is where Raul went on to experience a fair bit of success. Ronaldo’s scoring rate may even increase in Germany, given Bayern’s historic dominance. If manager Pep Guardiola raids Bayern’s players on his way to Manchester City, the Bavarians may be in dire need of Ronaldo’s services to retain their hold over the Bundesliga. Also, Ancelotti has experience in winning the Champions League with Ronaldo, so that can’t hurt.

Normally, Manchester City would be an easy transfer target, but Guardiola’s arrival could complicate that destination. Otherwise, a return to Manchester United would provide the struggling Premier League giant with a superstar on the pitch and for the global brand. The supporters would likely welcome Ronaldo back with open arms.

With the turmoil at Chelsea, Roman Abramovich and the Blues may be willing to spend a fair bit to welcome Ronaldo to London, though the prospect of missing out on Champions League football may be a tough sale for the attacker. Also, those same Manchester United fans that still celebrate Ronaldo’s every goal would likely turn their backs on him if he went to London.

Regardless of where he goes, selling Ronaldo should be a priority for Real Madrid if the club wants to move forward. In seven seasons in the Spanish capital, Ronaldo yielded seven trophies, with only one La Liga title and one Champions League crown. Though he may still be a bit too young, sharp and expensive to cross the Atlantic and join Major League Soccer, the time to end the Cristiano Ronaldo era at Real Madrid has arrived.

Shahan Ahmed is a soccer columnist for Yahoo Sports. Follow Shahan on Twitter: @ShahanLA and @perfectpass

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