It was a fall-out that ripped the Real Madrid dressing room apart and ushered in the end of an iconic era for Los Blancos' most favoured son.
But it appears Jose Mourinho and Iker Casillas may well have buried the hatchet after they joined several other Real Madrid legends for a selfie.
Roberto Carlos, Kaka, Predrag Mijatovc, Fernando Hierro and Michel Salgado were all pictured posing happily alongside the Portuguese coach and Casillas.
It is the first time the two have appeared so comfortable in each other's presence since their spectacular falling out in 2013.
The clash symbolised a divide that had engulfed Real after securing the 2011-12 La Liga title.
The championship triumph acted as a truce for simmering tensions that had their origins in a defensive approach to major games - as well as a feeling of discomfort towards exaggerating tensions with Barcelona and disparaging referees.
Casillas, the club captain at the time, was one of those uncomfortable and a clear rupture emerged after the club legend was dropped in December for a clash against Malaga for 'technical reasons'.
Diego Lopez was then signed in January from Sevilla and Casillas was consigned to the substitutes bench for the rest of the year.
As the campaign fell apart, their clash became public, with Mourinho insisting he should have brought Lopez in after his first season at the Bernabeu.
Different players in the dressing room and from elsewhere tried to stand up for Casillas, including Andres Iniesta of Barcelona and Real defender Pepe, who said Casillas 'deserved a little more respect'.
Mourinho fled the Spanish capital by mutual agreement in the summer of 2013, but the dispute didn't end there, with Casillas claiming in an interview with Jorge Valdano on the #Vamos programme that he should have confronted his former boss, especially regarding his misgivings surrounding the ratcheted up tensions with Barcelona.
The then Manchester United manager hit back, saying they were the words of a player 'at the end of his career' in Portuguese newspaper Record.
The saga brought about the end of Mourinho's time at the Bernabeu and put Casillas on the path towards the exit door too.
Yet, despite their checkered history, the two seem to have patched up relations - at least well enough to pose for a photograph together.
Casillas is recovering after suffering a heart attack last month while in training with Porto, the club he signed for after leaving Real two years after Mourinho in 2015.
He remains unsure as to whether he will continue his playing career, but he quashed rumours suggesting that he had decided to hang up his gloves, writing on twitter: 'Retire? There will come a day when I have to retire.
'But let me announce that news when the time comes. For now, relax.'
Casillas and Mourinho joined different generations of Los Blancos legends for the photo, with Hierro a mainstay of the late 1990s along with Mijatovic, while Salgado, Roberto Carlos and Kaka reflected the new 'Galacticos' era in the early 2000s.
The 38-year-old goalkeeper is the only one to have worked with every individual in the photo during his astonishing 725 appearances for the club between 1999 and 2015.