Cristiano Ronaldo, 33, leads the competition’s scoring charts for a remarkable fifth year in a row and a goal against Liverpool in Kiev.
Cristiano Ronaldo responded to his worst run of domestic form at Real Madrid with a record-smashing scoring streak in the Champions League and in Saturday’s final he can join the club’s iconic forward Alfredo di Stefano on five European Cup triumphs.
Ronaldo, 33, leads the competition’s scoring charts for a remarkable fifth year in a row and a goal against Liverpool in Kiev will see him surpass Di Stefano and become the only player to score in four European Cup finals.
Slowed down by a five-game suspension for pushing a referee in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona back in August, Ronaldo endured a barren spell of only four goals in the first half of the Liga season as Madrid fell way behind runaway leaders and eventual champions Barca. Ronaldo continued to reign supreme in Europe’s top club competition, however, and goes into Saturday’s final with 15 goals in 12 games this season.
Trending: Liverpool will be on fire against Real Madrid in final, says Jurgen Klopp
He became the first player ever to score in all six matches in a Champions League group stage in December and with further strikes against Paris St Germain and Juventus in the knockout rounds he set yet another record in the competition by scoring in 10 consecutive games in the same season.
Ramos: "Cristiano & Messi … these guys are in another orbit. [But] it's clear that Salah’s a fantastic player."#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/fX6q0Ef3dY
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) May 26, 2018
He recovered his domestic form, too, finishing the Liga campaign with 26 goals, only trailing Lionel Messi who finished top scorer with 34. Ronaldo’s outrageous bicycle kick against Juventus in Turin was widely hailed as the greatest goal in the competition’s history.
‘MAKING HISTORY’:
He could not score against Atletico in the 2016 final although he buried the final penalty in their shoot-out win, while he netted twice in last year’s 4-1 win over Juventus in Cardiff. “I want to be fine on Saturday, play well, to score if I can, but the important thing is to win – it doesn’t matter who scores, what matters is making history,” Ronaldo added.
https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/1000111127211233280
Ronaldo is bidding to join a group of players who have won the European Cup five times, including former Real great Di Stefano. Former Real winger Paco Gento holds the record with six European Cup winners medals. Ronaldo’s preparations for the Kiev final hit a snag when he sprained his ankle while scoring against Barca on May 6, although he played and netted in their final Liga game of the season against Villarreal last Saturday.
“I can see that he is feeling very good, he’ll be at 150 percent although if he is 149 percent that’s ok,” Real coach Zinedine Zidane said of his talisman on Friday.
Leave a Reply