Sergio Ramos held an impromptu ‘players only’ meeting in the dressing room before training on Thursday in an attempt to bring the Real Madrid squad together.
There was a ticking-off for Isco, who had refused to travel with the team to the stadium on Tuesday after learning he was not even on the bench, and a general call to arms.
Will it work? And will it be enough if the players are together when everything else is torn apart?
Sportsmail looks at the who’s taking on who as Real Madrid’s season descends into discord and chaos.
The Captain vs The President
Florentino Perez went down to the dressing room on Tuesday night after the 4-1 defeat by Ajax to blast the players for what, according to Diario AS he called an ’embarrassing’ performance symptomatic of a group lacking professionalism and commitment.
When Ramos intervened blaming the president’s bad planning for the poor season, Perez told him he would ‘get rid of him’ to which the club captain replied: ‘You pay me and I’ll go’.
Ramos, 32, is on a big contract at Madrid believed to be around 11m euros (£9.5m) a season. In 2017 there were plans for him to extend it to 2021 but the new contract was never signed so at the end of next season he could walk away for free.
This latest bust-up could mean the end is nigh for one of the club legends, although the president and captain did fall out in 2015 and Ramos ended up getting a new deal, after first courting Manchester United.
Isco vs Solari
In November, Isco captained Spain – by December he was struggling to get a game under Solari at Madrid and by January and February he wasn’t even making the bench.
On Tuesday, at Real Madrid’s training ground Solari gave the team news to the squad before climbing aboard the team bus to the stadium.
Once Isco heard he was neither in the team nor on the bench, he left the training ground in his own car, and according to Spanish television, drove home.
Ramos called out Isco in Thursday’s training ground meeting and Isco is understood to have apologised to the team. With so many injuries Isco might have a role to play on Sunday against Valladolid.
But is Solari really going to trust a player he has never seen eye-to-eye since he took over and who has consistently flouted his authority?
President vs Supporters
Diaro AS polled just over 63,000 supporters on Thursday after their story of Ramos’ spat with Perez. They say 70 per cent backed the player over the president. There were chants calling for Perez to resign inside the stadium on Tuesday.
The protests are futile because changes brought in by Perez have made it difficult for him to be opposed in elections.
Four Champions Leagues in five years have been delivered during his second stint in charge and in his role as unofficial sporting director, the club do seem to have unearthed a gem in Vinicius Junior.
But the five coaches in six years and only two leagues in 10 years are less impressive. His best chance of deflecting stick is to concentrate attention on the debate around who the coach should be.