Cristiano Ronaldo had spent nine years of his glorious career at Real Madrid. He’s still going strong at the age of 36, but it was his stint with Los Blancos which made him perhaps the ‘Greatest of all time’. He won 18 trophies in those 9 years and won countless individual awards. He scored 451 goals in 438 games and became the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid, and assisted another 131 goals in the process.
He is a legend of this club, and only the legendary Alfredo Di Stefano’s name can be taken along with Cristiano’s name while discussing the greatest player in the club’s history. Number’s wise, his contribution to Real Madrid is unparalleled, and he has given the fans some wonderful memories which they would cherish throughout their life. He was one for the big games, and he had always performed when it mattered most, due to which he’s considered as one of the best clutch players ever.
Every Madridista knows how important Cristiano was to this club, and how lethal he was in front of the goal. Let’s have a small recap of his Real Madrid career, by having a look at ten of his greatest goals as a Real Madrid player.
Honourable mentions:
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a lot of memorable goals while playing for Real Madrid, and it’s very difficult to pick up just ten out of them. Various factors like the technical quality of the goal, the timing of the goal, and the strength of the opposition have been considered. There are some goals that have been equally great as the ones mentioned. Hence I’ll give those goals an honourable mention over here.
Backheel goal vs Rayo Vallecano, LaLiga 2011/12
You can view a video of the goal here.
Real Madrid won the 2011/12 LaLiga season with a record 100 points, under Jose Mourinho who setup a perfect counter-attacking team and built one of the strongest Madrid sides ever with a perfect system. They scored goals for fun that season, but not every game was easy and they had to face few challenges on the road.
One such game was an away match against Rayo Vallecano, where Real Madrid visibly struggled against a tough Rayo side. Real Madrid struggled to find the net until the 53rd minute, and it took a moment of individual brilliance from Cristiano Ronaldo in the 54th minute. He gained control of a failed clearance and cleverly shot the ball towards the goal with his backheel while moving away from the goal and with his back facing the goal.
The ball ended in the bottom right corner, leaving every defender shell shocked. There was a bit of luck associated with the goal, as the ball passed through scores of defenders. But fortune favours the brave and Ronaldo created his own luck by attempting a daring shot instead of trying to maintain possession and turn around. During tough games like these, it takes a special moment of brilliance and Ronaldo turned up when it was important to win every game and maintain the lead over Barcelona.
Superb goal vs Liverpool, Champions League Group Stage 2014/15
This is one of the most underrated goals of Cristiano’s career. This goal just showcases Ronaldo’s ability to link up with his teammates and produce a great end product. This came against Liverpool at Anfield, a stadium where he hadn’t scored a goal until that moment. Due to his Manchester United history, he was treated with some hostility by the Liverpool fans in the stadium. But he scored a beautiful goal in the 23rd minute to break the deadlock and silence the fans.
He collected the ball from Luka Modric and moved away from the goal to have a one-two with Pepe near the halfway line. He then proceeded towards the goal, combining with Karim Benzema on the way. While bursting towards the goal he passed the ball towards James Rodriguez, who chipped the ball into the box for the speeding Ronaldo to collect it. It was a quality pass, but Cristiano improvised further by chipping the ball over Mignolet with a shot from his right sidefoot, and he didn’t even care to look towards the goal post and the keeper.
The ball ended in the bottom-right corner and Cristiano proceeded to celebrate the goal with a vintage ‘Sii’ celebration. Big game, tough opposition, hostile fans, and all it took was a Cristiano Ronaldo special to silence them. Even those hostile fans had to surrender to Ronaldo’s brilliance, who applauded him while he was being subbed off.
10. Copa Del Rey final winner vs Barcelona, 20th April 2011
You can view a video of the goal here.
Clasicos were always fun between 2010 and 2013, as the fans had the chance to witness two epic battles between two of the greatest players of all time and two of the greatest managers of all time. This time it was in a Copa Del Rey final, a trophy which wasn’t claimed by Real Madrid for 19 years. With a rejuvenated Real Madrid under Mourinho and with the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, the fans hoped to see the team lift their 18th Domestic Cup.
It was a fierce battle, and Ronaldo turned up for the big game. He was lethal on the break and got chances, but he couldn’t get a goal to show in the first 90 minutes with the scoreline being 0-0 and the game heading into extra time. Cristiano created a glorious opportunity for himself in the first half of extra time, by leading a counter-attack, but he missed the bottom right corner by inches.
It looked like the game was heading into extra time, but Ronaldo had other intentions. A sequence of some great linkup play between Marcelo and Angel Di Maria in the 103rd minute ended with a brilliant cross from the Argentine. But the way the cross was met by Cristiano Ronaldo was a thing of beauty. He timed his run into the box perfectly and made a fantastic leap to meet the cross and set the Mestalla on fire with that fierce header. Adriano couldn’t manage to jump as high as him, and the keeper Pinto couldn’t save it despite trying his best.
Madridistas saw Ronaldo score an extra-time goal against their arch-rivals in a cup final, which was the first final of his Real Madrid career. That was enough to convince Madridistas that this Portuguese No.7 is one for the big nights.
9.Thunderbolt vs Osasuna, 31st March 2012
As mentioned previously, Real Madrid used to score goals for fun in 2011/12, under Jose Mourinho. The attack was lead by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored 60 goals and assisted another 15 that season. These 60 goals include a lot of screamers and this goal in a 5-1 victory away against Osasuna was one such banger.
Ronaldo assisted Benzema to score the opener, with a peach of a cross volleyed home by the Frenchman. Real Madrid was controlling the game as they would’ve wanted. In the 37th minute, Ronaldo received the ball from Xabi Alonso, 40 yards away from the goal. Any other player would’ve passed the ball to the wings, but this was Cristiano Ronaldo, a guy who loves to take risks and tries to do the impossible every time he has the ball at his feet in the attacking areas.
He decided to shoot from there, which came as a surprise to his teammates, but he shot with immense power into the left top corner. The goalkeeper tried to save the shot but to no avail. The power behind the shot was just too much for him. Ronaldo pointed to his thigh muscle during the celebration, which gave an idea to the audience of how he was able to generate such power. It also gave a measure of the hard work Ronaldo puts in to keep his body in shape, which makes him a supreme athlete and gives him the license to execute such impossible things with relative ease on the field.
He added another goal to his name by scoring a thunderous freekick, and assisted Gonzalo Higuain for a goal, to end the match with 2 goals and 2 assists.
8.Fantastic free-kick vs Marseille, 8th December 2009
It was Ronaldo’s first season with Real Madrid, and despite performing very well in the initial stages of the season, he was yet to give a complete introduction of his abilities to the Real Madrid fans. He was brought in for a fee of 90 million, which was a work record then, and the expectations were sky-high. He had just recovered from an ankle injury due to which he had missed 10 games in all competitions, and it was important for him to regain his form quickly.
It was the last group stage game, away to Marseille. He got a free-kick in the 5th minute. He had a reputation for scoring some excellent knuckleball freekicks, and he had already scored two of them in a game against Zurich in the same competition. As Ronaldo was shaping up to take the strike, there was a flurry of whistles in the stadium, but those whistles were made out of fear.
“There’s a fair amount of worry amongst the Marseille supporters and why not?? It is absolutely magnificent! Right out of the top draw from Cristiano Ronaldo, and Marseille, early on in trouble.”
These words from Martin Tyler are enough to describe the situation of the stadium when Ronaldo scored the freekick. It was an extraordinary freekick from the Portuguese, who used the knuckleball technique to perfection to convert this freekick from a relatively long distance. The swerve was perfect, and though the keeper got his fingertips onto the ball he couldn’t save it.
7.Unbelievable header vs Manchester United, 13th February 2013
Ronaldo was up against his old club Manchester United, and the expectations were very high with the stage being the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League at the Santiago Bernabeu. he was in good form, having scored a hattrick against Sevilla in the previous game in LaLiga, but he didn’t have a good game. He struggled against a young Phil Jones & David De Gea and didn’t have a vintage CR7 performance.
Even Real Madrid struggled against Sir Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United, who scored an early and precious away goal through Danny Welbeck to push Mourinho’s Real Madrid behind. Ronaldo kept trying to get a goal, but he failed most of the time. But even when he’s having a bad game, he has the ability to be effective.
In the 30th minute, he met a high cross from Angel Di Maria with a gigantic leap over Patrice Evra to level the score. That leap from Cristiano left everyone surprised and made them think if this was for real, to slot the ball past a helpless David De Gea. Ronaldo didn’t celebrate the goal to show his respect towards his former club, but this was something his ex-teammates would never forget. Patrice Evra wasn’t even able to challenge Ronaldo for that header. This angered Sir Alex Ferguson, who had apparently scolded Evra at halftime for not even making a challenge for the ball.
But then Sir Alex Ferguson had checked the video, and he realised that Ronaldo’s knee was at the level of Evra’s head when he leaped. Ronaldo’s athleticism and brilliance made the legendary manager apologise to Evra. Such was the quality of the goal and that leap, which came at a big stage again.
6.Amazing backheel goal vs Valencia, 4th May 2014
The 2013/14 LaLiga title race was very close, and Real Madrid had to win every match to stay in the competition. But the results weren’t going our way, and we were trailing 2-1 to Valencia at home. Diego Alves was at his peak, and he was blocking everything that came towards him. The game moved into the added time with the scoreline being 2-1, and Madridistas lost hope of winning the LaLiga to complete a possible treble.
But then stepped up Cristiano Ronaldo, who was struggling from a tendonitis issue which made him miss some important games in the recent weeks and he wasn’t able to be at his best due to the knee problem. In the 92nd minute, Angel Di Maria whipped in a cross which was behind Ronaldo. The cross was a disappointing one, but not the end product.
Ronaldo immediately swiveled towards his left and met the cross with the backheel of his right foot, which met the ball at his waist height. Ronaldo lost his balance and he fell to the ground, but the damage was done. Diego Alves couldn’t save it and the ball ended in the bottom left corner. His expression explained everything.
Ronaldo won a precious point, but Real Madrid dropped 5 points in the next 2 games without Ronaldo in the side. We eventually lost LaLiga by 3 points, and this only shows how unlucky Ronaldo was, despite giving his hundred percent for the club.
5.Solo goal vs Espanyol, 31st January 2016
Cristiano Ronaldo has often been trolled on social media and even in the media by former Real Madrid manager Fabio Capello for his dribbling. People with short memories can easily forget how good a dribbler he was once, and he is still a decent dribbler. This goal gives us a measure of how well Ronaldo used his feet to get past defenders and score some bangers with his weak left foot.
This game ended 6-0 for Real Madrid. Ronaldo scored a hattrick, but Cristiano’s second goal was the talking point. A deflected pass from James fell to Ronaldo’s feet, who ran down the right flank at his top speed, before cutting inside onto his left foot and beating three Espanyol defenders with some great footwork of the highest level. He then unleashed a rocket of a shot with his weaker left foot from the edge of the box, which ended in the back of the net and raised the sound levels of the Santiago Bernabeu.
This was against weaker opposition, but the sheer individual brilliance in this solo goal is enough to make this goal one of his greatest goals ever for Real Madrid. Check it out if you don’t believe me.
4.The ‘Calma Calma’ goal vs Barcelona, 21st April 2012
Clasicos were definitely fun, but they were heated at times and they came at the most important points of the season. In the 2011/12 LaLiga season also the Clasico came at the perfect time. This Barcelona side which had one of the greatest squads ever was building pressure on the leaders Real Madrid, and Madrid had to win this game at the highly hostile and noisy Camp Nou, to let go of the Barca pressure.
Sami Khedira opened the scoring, but Sanchez equalised in the second half. With 20 minutes left, and the crowd behind them, Barcelona looked forward to winning the game. But Cristiano Ronaldo had other plans. In the 73rd minute, Mesut Ozil released Ronaldo after a nice team move with a great pass, and Ronaldo timed his run to perfection, took a touch to his right before unleashing a low right-footed shot past Valdes who was off his line.
Until then the Camp Nou was booing Ronaldo for every touch of his, but Ronaldo silenced the 99000 “Culers” in the Camp Nou, in style. He brought out an iconic ‘Calma Calma’ celebration, asking the Camp Nou to calm down and witness the brilliance of the Portuguese. In terms of the opposition strength and the importance of the goal, it is definitely one of his most special goals ever.
3.Free-kick vs Atletico Madrid, 11th April 2012
Another goal from the 2011/12 La Liga season, but this time its a goal against our local rivals Atletico Madrid. Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Atleti in a heated Madrid derby which was won 4-1 by Real Madrid, including two memorable knuckleball goals from the man himself.
In the 25th minute, Ronaldo stepped up to take a freekick from 30 yards out, and it was struck with such a wonderful technique that the shot which was going to head towards the left ended in the right bottom corner and left current Los Blancos goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois ‘completely bamboozled’. He scored another such wonderful goal from distance in the second half of the match, but this goal was the pick of the bunch and it’s definitely the best free-kick of his legendary Real Madrid career.
This goal is popularly known for Ray Hudson’s exciting commentary, where he described the goal as a ‘Wet dream of Orgasmic proportions’. Talk about an unforgettable line. Cristiano Ronaldo had celebrated the goal by showing his thigh muscle again, and looking at that we can understand how it took him some years of hard work and commitment to master the extremely difficult knuckleball technique.
2.Screamer vs Barcelona, 13th August 2017
You can view a video of the goal here.
Revenge is always sweeter, and this goal from Cristiano Ronaldo definitely proves that. It was the Supercopa De Espana 1st leg at the Camp Nou, and Cristiano started the game from the bench due to his lack of match practice in the pre-season. Pique scored an own goal to give the lead to Madrid, and Messi scored a penalty won by a wonderful theatrical act from Suarez.
Ronaldo came on for Benzema in the 50th minute, and he looked to be at his best. The feeling of a Clasico itself turned him on. In the 83rd minute, he led a counter-attack and was released by Isco. While he was sprinting to reach the ball, the commentators were wondering if a 32-year-old Ronaldo still had the legs to run after the ball, while the Camp Nou carried on with their jeers as usual. But he silenced the Camp Nou and clarified the doubts of the commentators by beating Pique with a typical Ronaldo chop, and shot the ball into the right top corner.
The goal was top-notch in terms of quality, but the best part of the goal is the occasion and the celebration. After showing his six-pack abs to the Camp Nou by removing his shirt, he then showed the back of his jersey to the Camp Nou and got his revenge for the same thing Lionel Messi did before 3 months. He got sent off by the referee minutes later, as the referee had misinterpreted that Ronaldo had dived, but the damage was done. Ronaldo scored the all-important winner and got his revenge.
1.Bicycle kick vs Juventus, 3rd April 2018.
Was there ever any doubt about the goal you were going to see at the top of this list?
A goal that Ronaldo had been trying to score for several years and had many unsuccessful attempts. A goal that came against tough opposition, on the biggest stage. A goal that made the manager scratch his head out of shock. A goal that proved to be the difference at the end of the tie. And above all, a goal which made the audience stand and applaud for the legend, who was jeered by the same audience minutes before the goal.
This goal was a perfect blend of technical quality, athleticism, and sheer determination. It was Ronaldo’s determination to do the impossible which made him attempt the overhead kick in the first place and get his right foot up to a height of 2.38m, which was almost at the height of the crossbar.
This goal won over every Juventus fan in the stadium, but it also won over many fans around the world. This goal is a symbol of perfection and will power, and talks about the importance of never giving up, despite facing failure a lot of times. For me, this is not just the best goal of his Real Madrid career, but also his whole footballing career.