– Snaps unbeaten Barca run
Real Madrid are currently riding a club record 35-
game unbeaten run, but back in April it was old foes
Barcelona who seemed unbeatable as they carried
a 39-game streak without defeat into El Clasico.
Yet, despite going first a goal and then a man down,
Ronaldo’s late winner silenced the Camp Nou and
signalled a swing in the balance of power
throughout 2016 towards Madrid.
– Wolfsburg wounded
Real’s last defeat came just four days after victory
at the Camp Nou in a shock 2-0 reverse to
Wolfsburg in the first leg of the Champions League
quarter-finals.
However, amidst a typically fervent atmosphere at
the Santiago Bernabeu on a big European night,
Ronaldo inspired a Real fightback with a hat-trick to
win 3-0 and progress to the semi-finals.
– Spot-on in Milan
Ronaldo didn’t manage to score in regulation time in
the Champions League final, but still proved
decisive as Real broke Atletico Madrid hearts for
the second time in three years.
Ronaldo scored the winning penalty as Real won an
11th European Cup 5-3 in a shootout after the sides
couldn’t be separated in a 1-1 draw after 120
minutes in Milan.
– Halts early Portugal exit
Ronaldo described winning Euro 2016 with Portugal
— their first ever major tournament win — as the
“happiest moment of his life”.
However, their unpredictable run to glory in France
could have been so different had Ronaldo not
rescued them from an embarrassing early exit at
the group stages.
After draws against Iceland and Austria, three
times Portugal trailed Hungary in their final group
game only to be bailed out.
Ronaldo teed up Nani for the first equaliser before
scoring two of his three goals in the tournament to
ensure Portugal sneaked through as one of the best
third-placed sides.
– Calderon goodbye
Whilst Ronaldo’s collective achievement in winning
both the Champions League and Euro 2016 was the
reason he won the award, the 31-year-old also
hushed the critics who suggested he was past his
best at the start of this season with a hat-trick to
again vanquish Atletico last month.
In the last ever La Liga clash between Madrid’s two
great rivals at the Vicente Calderon, Ronaldo
became the top scorer of all time in Madrid derbies
to almost certainly banish Atletico from the title
race.
Source : vanguardngr
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