Cristiano Ronaldo Comes Up Big
Real Madrid’s talisman notched a hat trick to send Real Madrid through to the semifinals. Ronaldo shows no signs of slowing down as he ages, and has been turning in huge performances in crucial games this year.
32 - Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 32 goals in EC/CL from quarter-final onwards; more than any other player in the history. Unreal.
— RMadridData (@RMadridData) April 18, 2017
There has always been something of a myth surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo that he is not a big game player; he is merely a flat track bully who drives up his statistics by beating up on smaller clubs.
Real Madrid fans who have watched Ronaldo perform over the years have known that this claim was always ludicrous, but Ronaldo is starting to make it painfully obvious to even the haters that he knows how to show up when it counts. As The Real Champs’ Ben Sundock pointed out recently, it’s time for the haters to shut up about Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the 1st player in all history of EC/CL to score 5 goals in a quarter-final knockout round.
— InfoCristiano 🇵🇹 (@InfoCristiano) April 18, 2017
Record after record... 😎 pic.twitter.com/CiaDNPqJ16
Ronaldo put five past Bayern Munich over the course of two legs, in the quarter-finals of European competition. That is quite the opposite of a flat-track bully.
Zidane has done well to manage Ronaldo’s minutes this season. He has rested him for crucial games, and largely kept him out of the early stages of the Copa del Rey. Ronaldo has looked sharp for the entirety of 2017, which will be huge for Madrid going forward if Gareth Bale continues to be sidelines with injury.
Ronaldo’s hat trick tonight adds another page to the legend of Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid.