Ronaldo saving his best for last at Real Madrid
MADRID — It had been a quiet season for Cristiano Ronaldo. Until he faced Bayern Munich.
He was being outshone by the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar both in the Spanish league and in the Champions League.
He hadn’t been scoring a lot of goals and was even jeered at times by Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
But things quickly changed in two decisive games against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals, when the star forward scored five goals to keep alive Madrid’s hopes of retaining the trophy.
Ronaldo had scored only two goals in the eight Champions League games he had played before the quarter-finals. He came into the series against Bayern in a scoring drought of nearly seven months in the European tournament and had scored only once in his last five Madrid games in all competitions.
In the Spanish league, Ronaldo’s 19 goals leave him five behind Suarez and 10 behind Messi.
But Ronaldo knew things were about to start going his way.
“I said after the first leg that I was preparing to reach the end of the season in good shape,” Ronaldo said. “It’s something that I’ve struggled to do over the last three or four years. But now I’m feeling good and the team has been playing really well, that’s what’s important.”
Ronaldo scored a “perfect” hat trick Tuesday with his head, right foot and left foot as Madrid defeated Bayern 4-2 after extra time to advance 6-3 on aggregate, securing the club a place in the semifinals for the seventh straight season.