Did Cristiano Ronaldo deliberately stamp on an opponent during Real Madrid's defeat to Betis?

 

 Cristiano Ronaldo made his return to the Real Madrid line-up after his lengthy suspension - and could immediately find himself at the centre of another disciplinary storm.

The Portuguese superstar's appearance against Real Betis was his first start of the La Liga season, after he was handed a five-game ban for pushing the referee during the Spanish Super Cup.

It was not a happy return for the Ballon d'Or winner, as Real crashed to a shock 1-0 defeat.

Ronaldo was far from his best, having a remarkable 12 shots on goal without scoring. However, the real problem for the 32 year-old might be this moment:

The image appears to show Ronaldo stamping on Betis defender Aissa Mandi.

During the second half, the Real Madrid forward lost control of the ball as he ran at Mandi. As the Betis player slid in to dispossess him, Ronaldo then stepped on the Algerian's calf.

The referee missed the incident, so no action was taken.

The defeat to Betis was a huge setback for Los Blancos, who now trail Barcelona by seven points.

It was former Real Madrid goalkeeper Antonio Adan returned to the Santiago Bernabeu to haunt his former employers.

Adan produced stunning saves from Isco, Toni Kroos and in particular Gareth Bale's stunning back-heeled effort on his right foot as Real fired a blank for the first time in 74 games.

 

And then, in the fourth minute of time added on, Betis broke and Sanabria was found at the back post to head home the winner.

It could even have been worse for Madrid had Dani Carvajal's goalline clearance and Keylor Navas' brilliant save from Fabian not thwarted a bright start by Betis.