Ronaldo is playing by numbers as he chases down Gento’s record
CRISTIANO RONALDO goes into this Saturday’s Champions League final driven by a personal goal that just three years ago seemed fanciful — he wants to retire as the player with the record for the most European Cups.
Those close to him say Paco Gento’s seemingly insurmountable record of six European Cups has become a conversation theme in his private circle in the last fortnight.
Despite limping off two weeks ago in Real Madrid’s draw at the Camp Nou, Ronaldo has never doubted he would make this Saturday’s game and has made no secret of his desire to become the only player still playing who can match Gento’s achievement.
He currently has four. If he wins in Kiev against Liverpool that would take him beyond Lionel Messi and level with the likes of Alfredo Di Stefano and Paolo Maldini. One more and the 33-year-old would be out on his own in the modern era and with only Gento alongside him.
Ronaldo’s mother Dolores Aveiro gave an interview in
Le Magazine, the glossy supplement inside L’Équipe, last week. She revealed: ‘There are players who play on until they are 37. Cristiano is not a machine, but he will go on for as long as he can. I believe he’ll still be playing for another three or four years.’
A star in her own right with 1.4million Instagram followers and an autobiography, Dolores also remains head of the Ronaldo family and her opinion of the player’s planned longevity carries weight.
It also fits the view of his agent Jorge Mendes, who has always maintained that Ronaldo could play on until he was in his late thirties.
When he signed his last contract the player himself declared it his ‘penultimate’ deal and said he would play until he was 39.
Part of his early-season unhappiness stemmed from believing Madrid had promised him a new contract and pay parity with Neymar and Messi if he delivered the Champions League last season.
The club sees it differently and would have allowed Ronaldo to leave last summer had signing Neymar been an option.
But his goals have taken them to the final in Ukraine and this time there are talks pending.
Messi’s earnings with signing bonuses factored in total around €45million net and Real Madrid will not match that figure, but Ronaldo could see his earnings pushed up to €35m net bringing him in line with Neymar.
He probably needs a big final to ensure the new deal goes over the line. He was quiet in both semi-final legs against Bayern Munich. But the desire is there.
The Portuguese wants to be remembered as the greatest, and the trophy count is starting to support his credentials.
As recently as two years ago, there was a belief that he was a spent force, worth more in the transfer market than on the pitch for Madrid.
He only had two European Cups to his name then, but with two more Champions League finals in the last two seasons, Ronaldo is back on level terms with Messi and now has the Madrid and Milan greats in his sights.
The exploits of Di Stefano and company are already being emulated. Inspired by their greatest player, Madrid won five straight European Cups from the competition’s inauguration in 1956 to 1960.
The current team, inspired by the new club great, could make it four winning finals in five years on Saturday.
They will also match Ajax and Bayern Munich — the only other clubs to win three straight finals — if they beat Liverpool.
‘We are making something difficult look very easy,’ said captain Sergio Ramos last week. ‘Nobody (in Real’s modern era) had even won it twice in a row before and Madrid did that last year. In my first six years at the club, we always went out before the quarterfinals, now we are on a run of eight years straight reaching at least the semifinals.’
Those eight years have been the Ronaldo years. His career has always been about numbers — more goals than anyone else, and now, if he gets his own way, more European Cups, too.