Cristiano Ronaldo
Ballon d’Or in Play as Ronaldo Bears Down on Messi
Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo (R) takes a selfie with a journalist in the mixed zone at Valdebebas Sport City in Madrid on May 30, 2017 at the Media Day event prior to the UEFA Champions League football match final Juventus vs Real Madrid. PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU / AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo heads to Saturday’s Champions League final against Juventus on the brink of realising a burning ambition of matching Lionel Messi’s record of winning the Ballon d’Or five times.
“I want to catch Messi,” Ronaldo confessed when collecting his third World Player of the Year crown back in 2015.
Now the Portuguese has four to his name, but Messi still remains one step ahead with five.
The two have dominated the award for the past decade in the battle to not just be considered the best of their generation, but among the best of all time.
Yet, whilst Juventus’s stubborn defence forced Messi to fire blanks in a 3-0 quarter-final aggregate win for the Italians over Barcelona, Ronaldo can complete another stellar season by ensuring Madrid become the first side to retain the Champions League.
“I am aware of the fact that what I’ve done in football has already left and will continue to leave a mark,” Ronaldo told UEFA.com.
“I haven’t broken so many records by accident. That’s not an obsession for me, but I do like breaking them.”
Ronaldo has already added his name to more record books during this season’s Champions League.
His hat-trick against Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals made him the first man to score more than 100 Champions League goals.
And he duly added another hat-trick in the semi-finals against Atletico Madrid to carry Real to the final in Cardiff this weekend.
“He has a good opportunity with the season that he has had, above all in the Champions League this year,” Predrag Mijatovic, who scored the winning goal when Real last met Juventus in the Champions League final in 1998, told AFP.
However, the Montenegrin believes Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon could finally end Messi and Ronaldo’s reign if he lifts the Champions League for the first time at 39 to complete the treble for the Italian giants.
“I think the next Ballon d’Or will come from the team that wins the Champions League,” added Mijatovic.
“Cristiano is there, as is Buffon and other great players at Real Madrid like Sergio Ramos that could aspire to it.”
– Ramos uninterested –Ramos more than Ronaldo has been Real’s hero in beating Atletico in two of the past three Champions League finals, scoring in both games in Lisbon and Milan.
However, the Spanish international doesn’t seem interested in depriving his teammate of a fifth Ballon d’Or to tie Messi’s record.
“If I wanted to win individual awards I would have played tennis,” Ramos said on Tuesday.
In contrast to Madrid’s previous finals in recent seasons, though, Ronaldo arrives in Cardiff in his best form of the campaign having been spared for a series of league games recently.
Despite Ronaldo missing nine La Liga games in total, Madrid didn’t miss a beat, winning every single one to edge out Barcelona and claim a first league title in five years.
“It was very intelligent management on the part of the coach because everything had minutes, everyone played and contributed,” added Ronaldo on Zinedine Zidane.
“I feel better than in recent years. That is why I think this year will be good for me.
“I hope to help the team with a good performance and goals if possible.”
If he adds to his 14 goals in his last nine games against the meanest defence in this season’s Champions League, Ronaldo will likely have his name etched on yet another Ballon d’Or.
Cristiano Ronaldo met his new Juventus team-mates for the first time as preparations ahead of the new Serie A season got underway.
Cristiano Ronaldo scores goals. Cristiano Ronaldo scores lots of goals.
And when he does, more often than not, he marks them with a particular celebration.
Yeah, you know the one. Having jogged towards the edge of the pitch, he’ll jump, spin 180° while in the air, and – on landing – flail his arms out by his sides. Usually, this is accompanied by him shouting something, almost always “Sí!” (Spanish for “yes”).
We’ve all seen it plenty of times. It’s even made it on to Fifa, for heaven’s sake. But what, exactly, does it actually mean?
Well, seemingly, it doesn’t have much meaning behind it other than “Here I am, look at me”. The accompanying yell Ronaldo lets out as part of the celebration, however, does have a bit of a story to it…
After winning the Ballon d’Or in 2015,Ronaldo famously let out a similar cry before embarking on his acceptance speech – much to the amusement of those watching.
Later asked about it, he explained he would use the cry to celebrate his goals or important victories with Real Madrid teammates.
“The scream? The players know I always do that shout when I score a goal or when we win,” he told Spanish TV station Cuarto at the time.
“It’s our team shout, from Real Madrid,” he continued.
Adding to this, Marca, the Spanish newspaper, delved a little deeper. They explained the “Sí” celebration was invented by Real Madrid players at some point in 2011.
Although it isn’t known if Ronaldo was the man to start it, it was originally used by some Real stars to celebrate goals in training sessions. This developed so that the team that won training ground matches would repeat the cry at the end of the session. In time, Ronaldo made it his own – and a big part of his most-replicated goal celebration.
It ended Two for Cristiano Ronaldo and Champion League Hatrick for Sadio Mane.
Real Madrid’s Portuguese forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring during the Spanish league football match between Real Madrid CF and Real Sociedad. Photo: AFP
Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday became the first player to score 100 Champions League goals for the same club when he found the net in Real Madrid’s last 16 clash at home to Paris Saint-Germain.
Ronaldo reached the landmark when he converted a penalty on the stroke of half-time to equalise Adrien Rabiot’s opener.
He now has a career total of 116 goals in the tournament.
Leading Champions League scorers:
1. Cristiano Ronaldo 116
2. Lionel Messi 97
3. Raul 71
4. Ruud van Nistelrooy 56
5. Karim Benzema 53
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