Cristiano Ronaldo solidifies himself as a champion, and one of the best ever
By Ben Sundock
Can ANYONE stop Cristiano Ronaldo? No. And he proved why again tonight in Cardiff, bagging a brace, and helping Real Madrid win their 12th Champions League title in club history. Tonight showed why Ronaldo is a champion through and through, and one of the best to ever play the beautiful game.
Cristiano did Cristiano things in Cardiff, Wales Saturday. Against the best defensive team in the Champions League this season, Ronaldo knocked in two goals, to open the game in the 20th minute, and to put Los Blancos ahead 3-1 in the second half which proved to be too much for Juventus to overcome.
Ronaldo didn’t just win his fourth Champions League title tonight, he broke several long-standing records.
CR7 in EC/UCL has the most:
— Real Madrid Stats (@RMadrid_Stats) June 3, 2017
Goals: 105
Assists: 30
Hatricks: 7
Final goals: 4
Away goals: 51
Home goals: 54
Knock-out goals: 54 pic.twitter.com/N66guyPlZZ
He also reached the 600 goal mark on his first goal and helped Real Madrid extend their scoring streak of tallying at least once in a game to 67.
Just a reminder of how awesome @Cristiano is 🙂 pic.twitter.com/jpm9q5iNxF
— The Real Champs (@TheRealChampsFS) June 3, 2017
Ronaldo has been labeled by many to be in the midst of his “worst season since joining Real Madrid,” however if you take a closer look at CR7’s stats these last two-plus months, Ronaldo has poured in 21 goals, adding 3 assists, and earning Man of the Match honors 4 times according to WhoScored.com, including today’s match.
Ronaldo has been quoted as saying he doesn’t enjoy getting whistled at or booed while at home in the Santiago Bernabeu, but, there won’t be any booing now, as both the fans and media critics don’t have any complaint about the incredible Cristiano.
Cristiano Ronaldo is football.
— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) June 3, 2017
That's it.
The record-breaking wasn’t done there, as Ronaldo become the first ever player to score in three separate Champions League Finals, in 2008 with Manchester United, in 2014 against Atletico Madrid in his home country of Portugal, and tonight in Cardiff against Juventus.
Ronaldo becomes the first player to score in 3 @ChampionsLeague finals in the modern era.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) June 3, 2017
The “who is better debate” between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi may become more difficult for those who support Messi, as Ronaldo has now pulled level with Messi for Champions League titles won, with 4.
He also took the honors for most goals in a Champions League for the fourth straight season in a row.
2017 - 1⃣2⃣⚽️
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) June 3, 2017
2016 - 16
2015* -10
2014 - 17
2013 - 12@Cristiano Ronaldo is #UCL top scorer for the 5th straight year! 💪 #UCLfinal
*joint pic.twitter.com/vXllsYlmpI
It is incredible to think that, through the entire UCL campaign, Juventus allowed just 3 goals. To Real Madrid in less than an hour and a half, Juve allowed 4.
It has already been a dream year for Ronaldo and he can add to his legacy by adding another trophy to his already lengthy list, by helping Portugal in the Confederations Cup later this summer in Russia.