So, yeah, where were we? Oh, yes, Real Madrid have won the Champions League for the third time in four seasons, two in as many seasons, and Cristiano Ronaldo scored a brace in the final to help his side beat Juventus 4-1.
All that talk about Juventus’ seemingly unbreakable defence was torn apart by the vehemence of Real Madrid’s attack in the second half of the game. It was an encounter between the best defence and the greatest attack. And in the end, Madrid’s attack desecrated the holy Juventus backline.
So this kid from Madeira—what’s his name again?—did something special this season. They said that he goes missing in the big games. They said that he has never played well in a final. They said that he is more about individual accolades than team trophies.
They say a lot, don’t they?
But that’s the thing, isn’t it? People will talk about you, regardless of what you do. The only way to glue their lips is by proving them wrong by actions. And that is what Cristiano Ronaldo did this season.
Doesn’t come up with the goods in the big games? Here, take 8 goals in 4 games against Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the quarters and semis, respectively. Doesn’t define finals? Stop taking the piss and take a brace against a goalkeeper Lionel Messi could never score against.
Individual honours over team titles? Well, the answer to that is self-generating.
For the past six seasons, the Portuguese star had finished with 50 or more goals by the end of each season. This season, on a personal level, has been his worse as he could manage to score ‘only’ 42 goals. And yet, this will go down as his best ever season in club football. Not because he won the double, but because of how he achieved it.
Zidane intervention
This season has been different in so many ways. Back in August, Cristiano Ronaldo was injured after returning from a triumphant Euro 2016. He had what he coveted the most; a major trophy with Portugal.
The iron was hot, and Zidane was ready with the hammer.
The Frenchman took this as an opportunity to explain to his star man that in order to prolong his career and be more decisive during the crunch end of the season, he had to rest more. One could almost envisage how that conversation went.
Zidane put his hand on Cristiano’s back and shared his opinion with him. Being Cristiano Ronaldo, someone who loves to be in action all the time, he reacted with a frown of a child being denied a toy. But Zidane is Zidane; when he talks, you listen.
Also read: Zidane team talk was key to victory, says Ronaldo
The legendary French midfielder persuaded him with logic: he was too drained by the end of last season, and the season before, and the season before that, and... you get it. His performances in the crucial matches of previous seasons were drab at the very best—and it needed to change.
Cristiano contemplated—and he could do nothing but agree.
Now, as the curtains have been drawn on the season, Ronaldo has two more trophies under his belt and played a more crucial role in winning them than ever before. The Portuguese admits to this, claiming that being rested for prolonged periods allowed him to be at peak by the end of the season.
He might have scored ‘only’ 42 goals, but the importance of those goals far exceeds the 50+ goals that he had scored in the season prior.
Worth the Ballon d’Or?
And now it is that time of the year when the Ballon d’Or discussions start. A section of fans hoped that Juventus would win the trophy in order to propel Gianluigi Buffon to the greatest individual honour there is.
But it wasn’t to be.
The other contender, that cheeky Argentine at Barcelona, had a better season—individually—than the Portugal captain, but the King’s Cup is not enough to pump his Ballon d’Or credentials.
And so we are left with nobody but Cristiano Ronaldo—and the man deserves it more than ever before. There was always some room for doubts and questions in the previous years when the former Manchester United star won the award.
This year, however, there are none.
When the full-time whistle was blown at the Millennium Stadium, Cristiano Ronaldo was named the man of the match for his brace. He now had 12 goals in the Champions League––finishing as its top scorer for the season––10 of which came in his final 5 games.
In the league, he scored 6 goals in his last 4 La Liga games—including a goal against Malaga that won Madrid the title on the final day. Surely, these numbers are good enough to attest to his burst of form in the most important juncture of the season.
The truth is, Cristiano Ronaldo is declining. The former Sporting starlet can’t keep possession of the ball for more than 2 seconds before someone harries him off it. He can’t dribble anymore, neither can he make a defence-splitting pass.
And yet he is here on the brink of winning his 5th Ballon d’Or—which will tie him with Lionel Messi—just because of a simple reason: he is adapting extremely well to his ever-increasing limitations.
Next season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Portugal number 7 playing even fewer games. What would be surprising, though, is if he doesn’t make it to the top 3 nominations of next year’s Ballon d’Or. That would be so unlike of him.
