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#1 Cristiano Ronaldo's brilliance on show again
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The Cristiano Ronaldo of La Liga is a shadow of the Cristiano Ronaldo of the Champions League. He has become the first player to score 18 goals in the Champions League in a calendar year and boy was he on fire tonight!
Though initially tentative, Ronaldo constantly popped up in pockets of space and was involved in 4 of the 6 goals that went in. He scored 2, assisted 1 and set up another.
He is still not at his staggering best and was wasteful with his first few efforts when he kept snatching at chances. But once he put his foot down, Real Madrid started to look like the juggernaut that marauded their way to the Champions League crown last term.
Ronaldo linked up well with Asensio, Benzema and Kroos on various occasions and carved open an unsettled APOEL defence and had them for dinner.
He will, however, need to prod on in a similar vein and replicate this form in La Liga to push arch-rivals Barcelona to the limits. Fortunately, he looks like he still has a lot to offer.
