Cristiano Ronaldo Adds To Personal Records As Real Madrid Advances In Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo is on fire after returning to play for Real Madrid in the last-16 round of the Champions League, following the controversial three-match suspension that he and manager Carlo Ancelotti saw as excessive.
The time on the bench, save one match in the Copa del Rey tournament, served as fuel to the hungry star who continues to tear La Liga and add to his personal records with inspired performances.
The 6-1 victory against the German club Schalke, on their home turf, served to prove — once again — that Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best soccer players in the world at the moment and is enjoying the fruits of his hard labor by having the best year of his career to date.
CR7 — as he is affectionately known to his fans — was more than ready to play for “los blancos” again and the wait did nothing to stop his tear of opponents, which has become a common occurrence this season.
In January, the Portuguese superstar finally ended arch-rival Lionel Messi’s reign as the best footballer, when FIFA awarded him the Ballon d’Or for his extraordinary performance last year.
Ronaldo continues to break records, on the personal and team levels, as part of Ancelotti’s squad. Twitter has a good summary of his accomplishments in recent matches:
Cristiano Ronaldo with Real Madrid: 237 goals in 232 games pic.twitter.com/flSMlC6kJ6
— SB (@Realmadridplace) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo has now assisted more goals (72) for Real Madrid than Mesut Özil (71). #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/LeQM6AY300
— SocialRMadrid (@SocialRMadrid) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo (11) is 3 goals shy of Lionel Messi's Champions League goal record of 14 Goals. pic.twitter.com/V5zjCnnIXi
— Bookie Insiders (@Bookieinsiders) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo: No other player has had more shots in a CL match this season than @Cristiano did last night vs Schalke (10)
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo: first player in history to score 10+ goals in 3 consecutive Uefa Champions League campaigns. pic.twitter.com/W0nfe9TyZU
— WeAreMadrid10 (@WeAreMadrid10) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, & Gareth Bale this season:
- 70 GOALS & 32 ASSISTS!
AMAZING! pic.twitter.com/3xMbKPgrV6
— WeAreMadrid10 (@WeAreMadrid10) February 27, 2014
Cristiano Ronaldo gets his throne top scorer in #UCL with 11 goals. pic.twitter.com/fJVqcaGqaL
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cr7Prince4ever) February 27, 2014
In comments on the Real Madrid website, Cristiano Ronaldo talked about his suspension for the first time:
“What happened has happened. I am frustrated by it, because what I did didn’t deserve a three game ban, but I am very happy to return and score twice. We are up for the derby, we are Real Madrid and we will give our best and try to win.”
During Ronaldo’s absence, Real Madrid managed to become the number one team in La Liga, after Barcelona lost in uncharacteristic fashion to Real Sociedad Sunday. This weekend they could pull ahead and consolidate their place as the top team in the Spanish league, with the “BBC” trio — Benzema, Bale, Cristiano — in place when they face Atletico Madrid.
[Image via Natursports / Shutterstock.com]
