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Cristiano Ronaldo and Champions League nights seem to have some special kind of bonding as the Portuguese superstar never fails to amaze us with his performances as we have seen throughout the years. Time after time, we have seen Ronaldo almost single-handedly take away the ties from the opposition and has also saved his team from the jaws of elimination in the competition.
It seems that when you have Cristiano in your team, you are never truly out until the last minute. Today we take a look at some of his best performances in the knockout stages of the UCL and try to rank them amongst his best.
Choosing any three out of all his matches is indeed very difficult because of his consistent brilliance in the competition but still, here are our top 3 picks:
#3 Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid (Semifinal 2017 First Leg)
Real Madrid were pitted against Atletico Madrid for the third time in 4 years in 2017, the previous two being in the UCL finals of 2014 and 2016 which Real had won. Atletico were hungry for revenge for the previous two defeats at the hands of their neighbors, but Ronaldo had different plans that night.
Real went ahead in the 10th-minute through Ronaldo who headed in Casemiro's cross by reacting first. Both teams then had even chances throughout the first half but the score remained 1-0 at the end.
Then in the 73rd minute of the second half, Ronaldo volleyed the ball on the bounce which flew past Oblak courtesy of a deflection from Savic. In the 86th minute, the Portuguese stepped up again and virtually put the tie past Atletico's hands when he converted a decent chance, thanks to the hard work from Lucas Vazquez who kept the ball in before passing on to Ronaldo for his hat-trick.
#2 Juventus vs Atletico Madrid (Round of 16 Second-Leg 2019)
Another hat-trick for Cristiano against Atletico Madrid in the UCL, but this time in the colors of Juventus. He just seems to love scoring goals against the Rojiblancos. Having lost the first leg against Atletico by 2-0, the pressure was right on Juve's shoulders coming into the second.
Everyone was almost sure that Atletico would go through as scoring 2 goals against them without getting any reply is almost impossible. But Mr. Champions League, as they call him was not going down without a fight.
Ronaldo halved the deficit in the 27th minute by leapfrogging Juanfran to head past Oblak from a Bernardeschi cross. Then in the 49th minute, Ronaldo once again headed in a cross from Cancelo which although Oblak pushed out, the ref's watch indicated that the ball had gone in. Thus the 2-0 deficit was canceled.
Juventus bossed the game pretty much and deserved nothing but a victory. They were rewarded for their work in the 85th minute when Bernardeschi was tripped by Gimenez in the box. With ice in his veins, Ronaldo converted the penalty to once again end Atletico's dreams of a Champions League glory.
#1 Real Madrid vs Wolfsburg (Quarter Final Second Leg 2016)
It's hard to agree why this match ranks as the best in Ronaldo's UCL career. In fact, this match showed that Ronaldo and co were ready for any type of challenge that was thrown in front of them. Trailing 2-0 against Wolfsburg in the first leg it was looking like Real Madrid would fall short once again as they did against Juventus the previous year.
Madrid started the match with a real purpose looking to quickly close out the deficit. In the 15th minute, Ronaldo stabbed the ball in from a Toni Kroos pass. And then just after 86 seconds, Ronaldo did what he does best, he headed in the ball and closed out the deficit.
Then in the 74th minute, Modric was tripped by Gustavo which earned Madrid the chance to close out the tie. Ronaldo stepped up and scored a wonderful freekick to send the Los Blancos into the semi-final for the sixth time in a row.
