Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best players in the world right now, is close to setting a new record in European club football. Real Madrid visit Borussia Dortmund for this their Champions League fixture, and a hat-trick from the Portuguese could see him become the first player to score 100 European goals in club football.
The Portuguese superstar was left fuming after being substituted by manager Zinedine Zidane in Madrid’s La Liga fixture against Las Palmas. Ronaldo stormed off the field without even acknowledging his manager. It did not help Zidane’s cause when Las Palmas equalised with five minutes remaining.
Ahead of the match against the high-flying Dortmund side, who have scored 20 goals in their last four fixtures, the dispute between the Real Madrid manager and the star player has cooled down a bit. Zidane’s decision to substitute Ronaldo was supported by the fans. However, their 16-game winning streak was put to a halt when they drew against Villareal and then against Las Palmas this week.
The former Manchester United forward has been terrific in the last few years and has scored an incredible 97 goals in European competitions for his clubs. Fierce rival Lionel Messi is his closest competitor with 89 goals.
In the first Group F fixture against Sporting Lisbon, Real Madrid came back to equalise through a Ronaldo free-kick. The three-time Ballon d’Or winner scored against his former club and took his tally up to 97 goals, as Madrid went on to win 2-1.
Dortmund thumped to a 6-0 win at Legia Warsaw as they roared back to form after a surprise 1-0 defeat at newly-promoted RB Leipzig in a Bundesliga fixture. The German team are high on confidence and are placed second in the German top flight. They breezed past Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga as Thomas Tuchel’s side won 5-1.
Also read: Cristiano Ronaldo very unhappy with Zinedine Zidane, swears at him after being substituted
A poor record in Dortmund
Real Madrid, however, have a poor record in Germany, particularly in Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park stadium. They slumped to defeats in their last three visits. The Spanish Giants lost 2-1 in the group stage in 2012. Again in 2013, they lost 4-1 in the Champions League semi-final when Robert Lewandowski scored all the four goals. The 2014 quarter-finals witnessed a similar story when they lost 2-0 when they visited the Bundesliga giants.
Ronaldo, who led his national side to a win in the 2016 Euros earlier in the summer, would look to become the first man to score a century goals in European competition, and given his incredible scoring run, not many would be against him achieving the feat tonight.
