When organising a wedding, one of the most difficult tasks for the bride and groom is drawing up the table plan for the reception. The same is true of Real Madrid for Monday's Christmas lunch at the Santiago Bernabéu stadium where the football and basketball squads broke bread together.

One of the prerequisites was not to sit Cristiano Ronaldo and Marcelo together. Having been inseparable friends since the Portuguese player's' arrival at Madrid, the relationship has, for some time now, cooled almost to the point of no return.

Cristiano Ronaldo surrounded himself with his Portuguese teammates (Pepe, Fabio Coentrao and Ricardo Carvalho) along with the Brazilian Kaká. Marcelo had his lunch with Higuaín, Di María and academy players Jesús, Nacho and Morata.

The other tables also reflected the relationships within the group. The Spanish contingent was put at one table: Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Arbeloa, Adán, Callejón and Albiol. The French (Varane and Benzema), the Germans (Khedira and Özil), Essien and Modric on another table, seated for language reasons with the Americans from the basketball division.

Casillas, as captain, was with Florentino Pérez, José Mourinho, Alfredo Di Stéfano and basketball captain Felipe Reyes.