El Clasico: Cristiano Ronaldo is unhappy - so what is wrong?

El Clasico: Barcelona v Real Madrid
Venue: Nou Camp Date: Sunday, 22 March, 20:00 GMT
Coverage: Live text commentary plus report, ratings and analysis on BBC Sport website from 18:30 GMT

Cristiano Ronaldo is angry.

Real Madrid's star man has, at least, spent much of the build-up to Sunday's Clasico - which could see Barcelona move four points clear at the top of La Liga - seemingly in a state of intense frustration with the world around him.
Opposition players, fans, the media and even his own team-mates have all been on the receiving end of his ire and, for a multi-millionaire superstar who was recently crowned the best player in the world for the second year running, Ronaldo certainly appears strangely ill at ease.
So, what is wrong with Cristiano?

Ballon d'Or to burst balloon

Ronaldo's scoring exploits at the start of the season were scarcely believable, as he hit 25 goals in his first 14 league games to put himself well on track to smash La Liga's scoring record.
Since the start of 2015, however, his form has nosedived and he heads into Sunday's Clasico with just five goals in his last 10 league outings, having failed to register even a single shot on target in four of them.
The decline started on 10 January when he failed to score in a 3-0 victory over Espanyol. It was his first goalless home league game for 15 months and his frustration at ending that sequence was plain to see when he reacted with melodramatic horror after Gareth Bale shot rather than passing to him, sparking a drawn-out debate over whether or not the Welshman is selfish.

Gareth Bale came in for criticism after electing to shoot rather than pass against Espanyol

Ronaldo was presented with his second consecutive Ballon d'Or a couple of days later but his team then tumbled out of the Copa del Rey against rivals Atletico Madrid, and the forward was soon held to another blank in a poor performance at Cordoba, with his irritation again boiling over as he earned a straight red card for a petulant hack at opposing defender Edimar.
When he returned from suspension to deliver a lifeless display in a humiliating 4-0 derby defeat against Atletico, Ronaldo's dip in form was becoming a significant cause for concern.
The Portuguese star subsequently did himself no favours by dancing the night away at his birthday party, enraging fans who felt he should have shown more discretion in the aftermath of such an embarrassing loss, and he is still struggling to overcome the negativity generated by that episode.

Why so angry, Cristiano?

Long-standing team-mate Sergio Ramos believes Ronaldo's dark mood is explained simply by his recent lack of goals. "He's used to scoring 60 goals a year and when he gets 40 he's not happy - he has a very competitive character," said Ramos.
Ramos is, no doubt, correct to suggest that his team-mate's failures in front of goal are the prime source of his discontent. His ambition to be lauded as the world's greatest is well documented, and it's easy to understand how such a relentless obsession can easily spill over into introspective self-indulgence.

Ronaldo has cut a disgruntled figure in recent weeks

Ronaldo often, for example, struggles to muster much enthusiasm to celebrate goals scored by his colleagues, a trait which was unpleasantly evident in last weekend's 2-0 home win over Levante: when his shot was cleared off the line and the rebound volleyed home by Bale, he reacted with an aggressively dismissive wave of the arm, as if to say: "That should have been my goal."
And with his goalscoring troubles providing the spark, Ronaldo now seems to be in a spiral of negativity where anything and everything is capable of annoying him.
Real's notoriously demanding fans, for example, have clearly got under his skin with their recent complaints about the team's poor performances. During the latter stages of the 4-3 home defeat by Schalke in the Champions League, he responded to fans' jeers by darkly muttering to Karim Benzema: "How shameful, how shameful."
And in the next home game - against Levante - he was caught by TV cameras appearing to deliver a foul-mouthed obscenity towards supporters who were voicing their displeasure with the team's second-half display.
Ronaldo has also stated that he will not be speaking to the media until the end of the season, after more unwanted off-the-field headlines were generated by the end of his relationship with long-term girlfriend Irina Shayk, who subsequently stirred the pot by pointedly telling the Spanish edition of Hola magazine that Ronaldo had made her feel "ugly and insecure".

As Ronaldo stalls, Messi stars

It cannot have helped Ronaldo's mood that his dip in form has coincided with his great personal rival Lionel Messi experiencing a joyful rejuvenation.
Since starting 2015 by being dropped to the bench (or rested, depending on your perspective) for his team's 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad, prompting speculation that he was considering leaving Barcelona following a bitter fall-out with boss Luis Enrique, Messi has been sublimely brilliant from his new position on the right wing.