#1 You can beat Real Madrid but you can't beat Cristiano Ronaldo
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King of Europe
The ill-informed will call him Penaldo and poke mullock at his converting the penalty in the final minute of the game to steal the limelight. But through his performance on the night, Cristiano Ronaldo proved that even on nights where his team can't come to their own, he will rise to the occasion and prove to be the difference. Time and time again.
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He should have perhaps buried a header in the back of the net in the 85th minute but when Real Madrid rightly won the penalty in the dying embers of the game, there was only man they could turn to.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Cristiano Ronaldo scored. He didn't just get it past Wojciech Szeszny but he thumped it into the right top corner with the kind of arrogance only he has the right to showcase on the most high-profile of nights in Europe.
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It was his header back into the corridor of uncertainty from a lovely dinked ball into the box from Kroos that won them the penalty.
That's exactly why beating this Real Madrid team has to be a layered process. First, you gotta beat Real Madrid. Then you gotta beat Cristiano Ronaldo.
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About the author
Shambhu Ajith
Shambhu is a European and international football journalist at Sportskeeda who focuses on previews, listicles and news articles. An ardent Manchester United supporter since before his teenage years, he started following the Red Devils by age 10 watching MUTV on television. Shambhu is also a highly-revered rapper and a playback singer on Spotify, having a whopping 1 million monthly listeners.
For his articles, Shambhu believes in triple-checking every piece of information, relying on trusted websites like Transfermarkt and Opta, and staying away from speculative publications. He believes that his law degree helped him to be more articulate and meticulous with his content and one of his core strengths is seamlessly involving emotion in his write-ups owing to the love for the sport. For Sportskeeda, has done exclusive interviews with Spanish legends Gaizka Mendieta and Fernando Morientes so far, and his articles boast of a huge readership of close to 50 million.
Shambhu's favorite footballer is Lionel Messi, and the Argentine attaining glory in 2022 is his favorite FIFA World Cup moment. He believes only Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland could replicate Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo's rivalry in the years to come. His favorite manager is Sir Alex Ferguson due to the Scot's unmatched longevity at the top.