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Cristiano Ronaldo is a force of nature. He turned 37 in February and just when critics and naysayers were about to write him off, he responded with a resounding hat-trick against Tottenham Hotspur this past weekend (12 March 2022).
Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 806th career goal in the game. He has surpassed Austro-Czech striker Josef Bican to become the player with the most goals in the history of the sport, as per FIFA. Ronaldo's growth from a young and mercurial winger to arguably the greatest goalscorer of all time has been nothing short of phenomenal.
He absolutely trumps his peers in several aspects of the game and it's quite incredible that he still continues to surprise us at the highest level.
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Without further ado, let's take a look at five things Cristiano Ronaldo does better than anyone else in the world.
#5 Champions League performances
Cristiano Ronaldo has won the Champions League title five times. He first won it with Manchester United in the 2007-08 season. Ronaldo has won it four times with Real Madrid and three of those came in back-to-back seasons between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons.
Ronaldo is also the all-time leading goalscorer in the Champions League with 140 goals from 182 appearances. Lionel Messi is second with 125 goals from 156 appearances. The Portuguese international has also been the top scorer in seven separate Champions League campaigns.
He's been the top scorer in Europe's elite competition for six successive seasons as well from 2012-13 to 2017-18. Ronaldo is often called 'Mr. Champions League' because of how he has dominated the competition over the past decade and a half.
He is the leading goalscorer in the Champions League knockout stages with 67 to his name.
#4 Goals in clutch situations
Ronaldo has already scored six goals in six Champions League appearances this season. That includes a stoppage-time winner against Villarreal, a winner against Atalanta inside the last 10 minutes of the game and another brace against the same opponents in a crucial group stage encounter.
He also scored in Manchester United's 2-0 win over Villarreal at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Ronaldo has come up clutch in many games for the Red Devils this season, including last weekend's encounter against Spurs. He scored a hat-trick and established the lead for United three times on the night.
Ronaldo's entire career has been built on these clutch performances. The hat-trick in the second leg of Real Madrid's Champions League quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich in the 2016-17 season is another case in point.
Ronaldo scored two extra-time goals to complete a hat-trick in the second leg after the tie had finished 3-3 in normal time.
Scoring a brace for Juventus to eliminate Atletico Madrid from the Champions League Round of 16 in 2019 is another great example. Diego Simeone's side won the first leg 2-0 and made lewd gestures following the win.
Ronaldo reminded Simeone that he has won five Champions League titles while the Rojiblancos have won none. He also said he'd score a hat-trick in the second leg and he did. Ronaldo almost single-handedly eliminated Atletico Madrid from the competition despite having a mountain to climb in the second leg.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo has silenced his critics again and again
Every time Cristiano Ronaldo suffers a dip in form, detractors are quick to write him off. After all, it's been seven years since he's crossed over to the 30s. It's worth noting that most footballers fade during that stage of their careers as age starts to catch up with them.
But Ronaldo has continued to mold his game to keep contributing for his team and has managed to do so successfully throughout his career. Heading into last weekend's game against Manchester United, Ronaldo had scored just one goal in his last 10 matches.
This time, the criticism was louder than it had ever been and even fans were nearly convinced that maybe Ronaldo could not do it at the highest level anymore. He scored a 30-yard screamer to kickstart his onslaught. Ronaldo looked as sharp as ever as he ran onto a Jadon Sancho cross to tap the ball home for his second.
The Portuguese international then produced a trademark thumping header to seal all three points for Manchester United. He has always been able to silence his critics and has relentlessly dispelled all kinds of criticism that's been thrown at him.
#2 Maintaining his physique and fitness levels
It's quite extraordinary that Cristiano Ronaldo is still one of the finest marksmen in the game at the age of 37. By the time that most people reach that age, they'll have become bit-part players or will be playing in much less competitive leagues.
However, Ronaldo is an extraordinary specimen of a human being. He is a physical freak of nature and treats his body like a temple. Ronaldo has always followed a strict dietary regime and workout routine. A report in AS from 2019 outlines how he has managed to keep his body in the best possible shape.
Ronaldo exercises and takes ample amount of rest every single day and not just when he is training with his club or country. He also reportedly eats six meals a day, balancing his protein and carbohydrate intake by eating pasta and chicken. He also does not use salt in his food.
It is further claimed that the Portuguese international very rarely has a cheat meal. But he has admitted to eating pizza with his son as he believes life could be very boring otherwise. He said (via SportBible):
"The key is to take care of your body, train, do your recovery and eat properly. Although sometimes I do eat pizza with my son otherwise it would be boring."
He is human after all.
#1 Headers and leaps
Cristiano Ronaldo has worked on all possible aspects of his game in order to become the greatest goalscorer of all time. Once he lost a yard of pace as his his 30s, Ronaldo realized that he could no longer bomb down the flanks. He became more of a center forward after that.
But the transition wasn't too difficult as Ronaldo was already a prolific goalscorer. Headers are a part of the game that the Portuguese international started working on obsessively during his first stint with Manchester United.
He started surprising everyone with the sheer height he was climbing every time a ball was crossed into the area. Ronaldo continues to astound everyone with his leap and continues to score thumping headers despite not being the tallest player around.
