7 players who single-handedly destroyed the opposition in a match

3) Cristiano Ronaldo vs Wolfsburg

Cristiano Ronaldo’s hat-trick helped Real progress to the next round

Real Madrid’s 11^th Champions League triumph (Undecima) almost never happened if not for the heroics of Cristiano Ronaldo in the quarter-finals. Trailing 2-0 from the first leg against the Bundesliga side, Real Madrid had a huge task on their hands as Zinedine Zidane wet his feet in football management for the first time. This was his first real test.

And the Portuguese forward delivered within 15 minutes. A simple tap-in and a glancing header within the span of two minutes saw the Santiago Bernabeu come to insane life and throw a spanner in the works of Dieter Hecking’s team. With the aggregate reading 2-2, they played on and then Ronaldo stepped up a third time in the second half.

A free-kick 26 yards from goal saw Ronaldo get the better of the wall and then beat goalkeeper Diego Benaglio to find the back of the net. The comeback was complete and Los Blancos were through to the semi-finals. It was a performance worthy of all the praise that came Ronaldo’s way due to the circumstances that surrounded it.