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Cristiano Ronaldo, undoubtedly, performed exceptionally and was at the peak of his powers during Real Madrid's legendary three-peat of Champions League titles. It was the contribution of the whole team, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Sergio Ramos, etc. managed by the French maestro himself, Zinedine Zidane.Yet, someone had to perform out of the ordinary to make it happen and it was none other than the Portuguese maestro.
No super-teams have attained massive success without a strong deciding factor or a cheat code per se. For example, prime Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski were pivotal to Barcelona and Bayern Munich's respective sextuples. In Real Madrid's case, the hero was Cristiano Ronaldo. Hat-tricks against Atletico and Bayern, the comeback against Wolfsburg and slaying an undefeated Juventus, Ronaldo's exploits captured the world's attention. Let us take a look at the remarkable events through the three-peat timeline.
Comeback against Wolfsburg (2015-16)
Before the epic quarterfinal against Wolfsburg, Ronaldo had scored 13 goals and assisted four in the group stages and Round of 16, including a poker (four goals) against Malmö. Los Blancos, surprisingly, suffered a 2-0 away defeat in the first leg. Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as Zidane asked the fans to keep calm as they were ready for the return leg at the Santiago Bernabeu.
They went into the match with a disadvantage, but were nevertheless, favorites. Sixteen minutes after the starting whistle, Ronaldo found the back of the net after a deflected cross from Carvajal. Hardly a minute later, he scored again from the corner with a sharp header. The odds were tilted in Real's favour again.
Fast forward to the 77th minute, Madrid got a free-kick after Modric was fouled. Cristiano, as always, stood over the deal ball. He cheekily slid the ball between the wall and into the goal and the comeback was complete. Ronaldo scored a sensational hat-trick to break Wolfsburg hearts. The moment was absolutely poetic and Peter Drury couldn't have described it any better, (via Jeremy Young's YouTube):
"Beautiful....beautiful! Something close to genius. He's turned the tie around, all by himself! Another Champions League hattrick, for the head of the Real Madrid glitterati, Cristiano Ronaldo."
Real Madrid eventually won the competition after Cristiano Ronaldo put the final nail in the coffin during the penalty shootout. He ended the campaign with 16 goals and four assists in 13 matches.
Quarter-finals against Bayern (2016-17)
In the first leg at the Allianz Arena, Bayern took the lead through Arturo Vidal with a bullet header from a corner. He missed the oppurtunity to double the lead when he skied a penalty just before half time. Vidal must've surely regretted it later on as Cristiano Ronaldo scored just 90 seconds into the second half. The game was turned around completely when he scored again after smashing the ball through Manuel Neuer's legs in the 77th minute.
In the second leg at the Bernabeu, both teams struggled to score in the first half. Robert Lewandowski equalised on aggregate after smashing home a penalty five minutes into the second half. After a tough 23 minutes, Madrid took the lead again via the Portuguese icon who headed the ball past Neuer. However, they weren't able to hold their lead for long as Ramos scored an own goal in the 78th minute to level things up on aggregate.
The match went on to extra time and Cristiano Ronaldo, unsurprisingly, scoring yet again in the 105th minute. As the match neared the end, he completed another sensational hat-trick four minutes later with a simple tap in. Marco Asensio put the final nail in the coffin three minutes later to make it 6-3 on aggregate. The world had yet again witnessed the greatness of Ronaldo.
Madrid Derby Semi-finals (2016-17)
Real beat Bayern to met their city rivals Atlético Madrid in the semi-final stage of the 2016-17 Champions League. What was expected to be a tough matchup, turned one-sided in Madrid's favour in the first leg itself, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. Atléti stood no chance after Ronaldo scored once in the first half and twice in the second, completing yet another legendary hat-trick.
It was his second hat-trick against Atlético that season and a second consecutive hat-trick in the UCL knockout stages. He was the first player in history to do so and is only joined by Karim Benzema after the latter's heroics during the 2021-22 campaign.
El Final (2016-17)
The hardest challenge to overcome on their way to glory were a relentless Juventus side. Having gone unbeaten upto the final, the Bianconeri had conceded only three goals in 12 prior games leading upto the grand finale. But they conceded only 20 minutes into the final, thanks to Cristiano Ronaldo. Only seven minutes later though, Juventus equalised via a brilliant bicycle kick by Mario Mandžukić.
After a pretty even first half, Los Blancos once again took the lead through Casemiro in the 61st minute. They scored one more when Ronaldo, once again, glided the ball past Buffon at the near post. Asensio's 90th minute goal was the cherry on top. Juventus had conceded more goals in a single game against Real Madrid than they had done throughout the entire tournament.
It is worth noting that Cristiano had scored only two goals and given six assists till the Round of 16. He then scored 10 goals in five matches and won Real Madrid their second crown.
Cristiano Ronaldo League (2017-18)
Ronaldo scored an astounding nine goals in six group stage matches. He scored in every grou match, making him the first player in history to do so. Only one other player has achieved this feat - Sebastian Haller in the 2021-22 season. Ronaldo also scored in 10 consecutive games in the tournament.
Knockout phase (2017-18)
Real Madrid faced Paris Saint-Germain in the Last 16. Adrien Rabiot scored the opener in the 33rd minute for PSG but was cancelled out after Ronaldo scored in the 45th minute. He scored again in the 83rd minute and Real won the game comfortably after Marcelo scored their third in the 86th minute.
Los Blancos met Juventus again in the quarter-finals. The Old Lady were eager to take their revenge after what had happened in the previous campaign. However, they weren't able to capitalise in the first leg. Instead, it was Cristiano Ronaldo again with the opener just 166 seconds into the match. He doubled the lead with the extraordinary bicycle kick in the second half, a goal which gives fans goosebumps even today after watching.
Juventus, unable to do anything significant in the first leg, turned up massively at the Bernabeu. They nullified the three goal advantage completely and were favorites to win the tie until they conceded a controversial penalty in late, late injury time. Who else but Cristiano Ronaldo, even after being intimidated by almost all Juventus players, smashed home the penalty to secure their place in the semi-finals.
He did not score in the final three matches of the campaign, but scored in every single one of them till the quarter-finals.
