Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho didn’t always see eye-to-eye during their three years working together at Real Madrid.

Their relationship gradually deteriorated towards the end of Mourinho’s spell at the Bernabeu and Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague revealed in his 2015 book on Ronaldo how the Portuguese compatriots almost came to blows during a heated dressing room exchange following a clash against Valencia in January 2013.

“After everything I’ve done for you, this is how you treat me! How dare you say that to me?!”' Ronaldo is alleged to have shouted at Mourinho after being singled out for not tracking back.

“The situation escalated to the point where Cristiano had to be held back (some sources say by Casillas, others say by Arbeloa and Khedira, or even Sergio Ramos) to prevent the pair from coming to blows,” Balague added, in his book serialised by the Telegraph.

“Ronaldo took what should have been understood as a tactical comment as a personal attack. The relationship between Mourinho and Ronaldo would never be the same again.”

Ronaldo shone under Mourinho

However, despite the way their relationship soured in 2013, it shouldn’t be forgotten that Mourinho helped bring the best out of Ronaldo.

In 164 games, the four-time Ballon d’Or winner scored a remarkable 168 goals.

Madrid haven’t played too many matches over the past eight years in which Ronaldo has failed to score at least one goal.

But he drew a blank in a 1-1 draw against Almeria back in January 2011.

It was an excellent point for Almeria, who finished rock bottom of La Liga at the end of the 2010-11 campaign.

Leonardo Ulloa, a Premier League champion with Leicester City last season, opened the scoring on the hour mark before Esteban Granero snatched a point for Mourinho’s side with 13 minutes left on the clock.

Video: The incident involving Ronaldo that made Mourinho laugh

However, the incident from that match that has generated the most views on YouTube involves both Ronaldo and Mourinho.

Ronaldo was penalised by referee Miguel Perez for jumping over the head of Almeria substitute Fabian Vargas.

The camera then showed Mourinho creasing up from his seat in the dugout.

Watch it here...

(For copyright reasons, you may need to click 'Watch on YouTube')

Was Mourinho laughing at Ronaldo?

Some people took this as Mourinho laughing at Ronaldo’s attempt to win the ball…

Easy, Nelson.

Or the ref's decision to penalise Ronaldo?

While others believe the current United boss was laughing at Perez’s decision…

But surely there’s no doubt this was a foul by Ronaldo.