Real Madrid won the UEFA Champions League 2016/17 title, making it their 12th CL title and their main man Cristiano Ronaldo was again the flag bearer for the team with his double strike (20’ and 64’) as he scored a goal on either side of the half-time.
The Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus was a clash among the unstoppable and unbreakable team, and yet Los Blancos managed to continue their dominance on Sunday at Cardiff. Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, became the first player to score in three Champions League final with his first goal in the 20th minute of a thrilling first half. Mario Mandzukic equalized for Juventus in the 27th minute but that was it from Massimiliano Allegri’s men as after that, we witnessed a humiliating collapse.
Casimero (61’) and Marco Asensio (90’) scored the other two goals of the night as Real Madrid became the first ever team to successfully defend the Champions League title by defeating Juventus by 4-1. As big as the difference there is between the goals from both teams, records were also broken at the same rate and Cristiano Ronaldo added several other feathers to his illustrious career.
Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo, both names seems to love the word ‘glory’ to the most and their undying thirst for trophies has made them the most successful club and the highest scoring player respectively.
On their way to the first ever European double, Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo have broken a ridiculous amount of records and here a quick look at their dominance in the World of Football.
Real Madrid: Ahead Of Everyone Else.
- Real Madrid is now the only team to have successfully defend the UEFA Champions League Title and also the only one to register a European Double (La Liga and Champions League).
- The club has managed to maintain it’s 100% success rate in Champions League final by winning all the six finals.
- Madrid (6) has now won two more Champions League final than Barcelona (4).
- Ronaldo’s 20th-minute goal was Real Madrid’s 500th UEFA Champions League goal, making it the first club to reach the milestone. Barcelona with 459 goals and Bayern Munich with 415 goals are next on the list.
- This was Real Madrid’s 12th Champions League title victory which means that they have more title wins than the next to successful teams combined. Milan has won the title 7 times while Bayern Munich, Liverpool, and Barcelona have won the title 5 times each.
Cristiano Ronaldo: The Unstoppable Force
Before winning the Ballon d’Or last season, Cristiano Ronaldo suffered huge criticism for his declining performance but in the last couple of years, he has emerged as the best of best when it comes to club football, leaving Lionel Messi behind while making numerous personal records.
During the Real Madrid vs Juventus Champions Trophy 2016/17 final, Cristiano Ronaldo has broken another set of records while scoring a double and displaying a match winning performance.
- Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored in three Champions League Finals (2008, 2016 and 2017) while Messi stands second with goals in two such games (2009 and 2011).
- Ronaldo has finished the tournament as the highest goal-scorer (12), followed by Lionel Messi with 10 goals.
- The Portugal national has also left Lionel Messi as being the top scorer of the season for the most number of times (6). He is also the only player to end a season as the top scorer or joint-top scorer in five consecutive seasons.
- He has now scored 600 goals, for clubs and his country combined and is the player to do so.
- He scored Real Madrid 500th goal during the Champions League 2016/17 final against Juventus.
- This is Ronaldo’s 3rd European Cup with Real Madrid which combined with his solitary European title with Manchester United, made him the 20th player to win four or more European Cups.
- Cristiano Ronaldo now stands at the fourth position on the all-time list of appearances in Champions League, Ryan Giggs (151), Xavi (157) and Iker Casillas (168) being the top three.
- He has also scored the most number of goals in Champions League History (105) while Lionel Messi stands second with 94 goals.
5th June 2017
Rohan Jaitly