Cristiano Ronaldo carried Real Madrid to the Champions League semifinals on Tuesday, scoring a hat-trick in front of the home fans to guide Madrid to an extra time victory over Bayern Munich.
Tied in the final moments of the first half of extra time, Ronaldo chested a pass in the middle of the box and fired it past the near-unbeatable Manuel Neuer to put his team ahead. While he may have appeared offsides to some, it was Ronaldo’s fourth goal of this quarterfinal matchup.
8 – Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 8 goals v Bayern in the Champions League – only Lionel Messi has more v a single team (9 v Arsenal). Haul.
Shortly after that tweet, Ronaldo added another goal to give him five in the series and to put Bayern away. He now has 103 goals in European competition, more than any player in history. Madrid added another goal in the final minutes to send them through with a 6-3 aggregate victory.
In a meeting between two of Europe’s greatest clubs, 180 minutes wasn’t enough. Moments after Ronaldo put Real Madrid ahead late in the second half, Sergio Ramos committed an own goal to bring Bayern Munich level at Santiago Bernabeu. As tension escalated in the second half, Arturo Vidal was sent off after a questionable second yellow card.
With Bayern once again short-handed, Madrid were able to dictate the pace in the extra frame. Mats Hummels and Jerome Boateng, who were both dealing with knocks heading into the second leg, were masterful in defense.
Boateng and Hummels are both hurt, but vision and anticipatory skills are out of this world. #RMAFCB