Rested Ronaldo rocks in Real UCL show
Print Edition
ALL that rest has paid off for Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Real Madrid forward has been pacing himself, skipping games that he would have normally played in previous years, and is peaking at just the right time.
On Tuesday, he scored a hat-trick for the second straight game in the UEFA Champions League, leading Real Madrid to a 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid that virtually put the defending champion back in the final. Real will advance even with a two-goal loss in next week’s second leg at Vicente Calderon Stadium.
“I feel very good,” Ronaldo said yesterday. “I’ve prepared myself to be in great shape in the final stages of the Spanish league and the Champions League. You also need to have a bit of luck as well, because I prepared myself and things have been going well, for me and for the team.”
Ronaldo was rested in several matches recently, with coach Zinedine Zidane making sure he stayed fresh down the stretch. Real is still fighting with Barcelona for the title in the Spanish league, a competition is hasn’t won since 2012.
“It’s important for him to rest from time to time and he knows that,” Zidane said. “I don’t know whether it’s all down to him being rested. He’s got goals in him, he is unique.”
Ronaldo has scored eight goals in the last three UCL games. He also netted a hat-trick in the second leg of the quarterfinals against Bayern, in addition to the two goals he scored in the first leg in Germany.
“The goals come naturally,” Ronaldo said. “I ended up scoring the goals, but the team did a tremendous job.”
In Ronaldo’s last six games in all competitions, the Portuguese has scored nine goals.
“Cristiano always exceeds expectations,” Real midfielder Marco Asensio said. “The fans need to thank him because he always comes through in the important games.”
With his goals on Tuesday, Ronaldo increased his total to 400 with Real, by far the most of any player in the club’s history. He reached the milestone in 389 matches. Raul Gonzalez, Real’s second-best scorer, had 323 goals in 741 games.
“It’s something special,” Ronaldo said. “It’s a huge amount of goals. I didn’t expect this. I’m very happy and I want to keep giving my best and to help the club win titles.”
Tuesday’s goals at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium also left him within one of this season’s scoring leader in the UCL, Lionel Messi, who scored 11 with Barcelona before the Catalan club was eliminated by Juventus in the quarterfinals. Each player has been the UCL scoring leader five times in their careers.
Ronaldo had scored only two goals in his first eight games in the European competition. It had been an up-and-down season for Ronaldo, who has 35 goals so far.
He finished with more than 50 in each of the last six seasons with Real.
The hat trick on Tuesday was his seventh in the UCL, leaving him with 103 goals in the competition. Ronaldo is the only player to have broken the 100-goal mark.
“It’s great to have a player like Ronaldo,” Real midfielder Toni Kroos said. “You can defend well, you can control the midfield, but you still need someone to score the goals. He does that for us every time.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
