Cristiano Ronaldo is one of a small handful of athletes to have utterly transcended their sport to become household names. The Real Madrid forward’s second goal against Juventus in this morning’s quarter-final tie proved exactly why.
After slotting in the first goal of the game – an honour which secured his utterly insane place as the first-ever player to score in ten consecutive Champions League matches – the lethal #7 attempted a powerful shot.
Juve’s own legend Gianluigi Buffon saved the attempt, only for Real’s Dani Carvajal to scoop the ball back into Ronaldo’s vicinity. What happened next was a crime against physics.
Legends past and present have rightly praised the shot as one of the greatest goals ever scored in the Champions League, itself the pinnacle of European club competition.
Ronaldo has given us an early contender for #UCL Goal of the Week 🔥
Voting opens next Wednesday 👉 https://t.co/CL0b9kkjIV pic.twitter.com/ALni9fWMT7
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) April 3, 2018
Marcus Rashford, the young striker whose team Manchester United were knocked out by Sevilla, couldn’t help but admire the former United player’s strike.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a joke 😱 what a player! 🔥🔥🔥
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) April 3, 2018
Former England players Gary Lineker and Michael Owen, both no strangers to world-class goals, also had their say.
Seen a lot of great goals in my time but that is absolutely breathtaking from Ronaldo.
— Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) April 3, 2018
OMG. Please, if you do one thing tonight make sure you see Ronaldo’s second goal. His first was awesome. I’ve no words to describe his second.
— Michael Owen (@themichaelowen) April 3, 2018
Peter Crouch, the phenomenally lanky Stoke City striker, even drew a comparison to his own wild bicycle kick goal for Liverpool.
There is only a few of us who can do that
— Peter Crouch (@petercrouch) April 3, 2018
All the way over here, the Sydney Swans found some more local similarities.
Ronaldo last night kicked what is being called ‘one of the greatest goals in Champions League’…..
We may have seen it a few weeks ago…. 😉 #ProudlySydney pic.twitter.com/LJGzrqQ4R3
— Sydney Swans (@sydneyswans) April 3, 2018
Real Madrid ran out 3-0 winners. The tie’s second leg will see Juve face Real again at Madrid’s Santiago Bernebeu Stadium next Thursday.
