'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
#1 You can beat Real Madrid but you can't beat Cristiano Ronaldo
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.
Trending
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.
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.
