The Greco-Egyptian god of common sense, Tondelaya Della Ventimiglia on a faithful day, in his infinite wisdom and after a few shots of vodka reached a conclusion that;
“In any big game involving Real Madrid, Ronaldo shows up and Real Madrid show up. He doesn’t and they don’t”
(In Barney Stinson’s voice). True story (Don’t you dare looking up the quote on google)
Like you probably were too, I had the opportunity to see Real Madrid take on Bayern Munich (over 2 legs) and the first leg against Atletico Madrid and couldn’t help but make a couple of observations.
The first being that the relationship between Ronaldo and the flanks (wings) is a living corpse, a brain dead and life-support-dependent entity.
He’s simply no more the young, sprinting athlete with a cocky hairdo and a bag of skills. Watching him trying to beat his marker in a one-on-one situation can be a real sight for sore eyes.
But that’s quite explainable logically at least. It’s simple. He’s a 32 year-old. At that age, many players drop deeper and try to influence the game with minimal energy expended. The likes of Marco Asensio and Lucas Vasquez now have inherited the pleasurable honour of making the lives of fullbacks a living hell.
Ronaldo has moved on to something more important.
8 goals in 3 heavyweight games against 2 heavyweight teams at the heavyweight stages of a very heavyweight and elite football competition is headline hugging in itself but the goals are way interesting than the attention the feat gets.
First, not one of those goals came a result of a set piece he took. This effectively brings to an end the concert of the ridiculous “Penaldo” choir. Those 8 goals are 8 Anthony Joshua’s uppercuts to people who criticize Ronaldo in that line.
Next, 5 of the goals came against the best goalkeeper in the world and the other 3 have come against one of the meanest and stingiest defenses in Europe.
Still more important are the minute details like the fact all 8 came from inside the box. The positioning, movement to displace his marker, the sharpness, skill and accuracy of execution had the trappings of a ruthless stone cold lethal striker.
The machine has evolved. He has adapted to ageing. He has reinvented himself. An act specially reserved for unrelenting winners. It’s what the big dogs do. When all chips are down and you think they’re finished, they simply spring up with wicked plot twists and shove them right in the throats of their critics.
A reminiscent case was the 1974 epic “Rumble in the Jungle” Boxing match between Muhammed Ali (32 years old at that time) and George Foreman (25 at that time). People in their collective wisdom handed the fight before it even happened to Foreman. Ali stunned the world by changing tactics during the match: Leaning on the ropes to absorb Foreman’s blows while encouraging Foreman to keep hitting harder by verbally provoking him. The tactic is called “Rope-a-dope”
Conclusion? Foreman gassed out from punching Ali (while Ali withstood the bombardments), Ali went on the attack and with a combination of blows that ended with a left hook and straight punch to the face, Ali had Foreman KOed in the 8th round.
Likewise, Ronaldo is providing what only few very top strikers can do. Being Real Madrid’s star man for 8 straight years is a feat for a proper legend.
A masterstroke of the Florentino Perez legacy. Every wealthy man “has a guy” whenever they want to get things done. The Portuguese Captain is that guy to Real Madrid. The go-to guy especially these days when a certain 100m-valued Welsh asset of theirs has spent more time as a study guide for Spanish Medical Students on Orthopedics rotation than on the field of the play, James Rodriguez is as confused as we far about his status in the team and Benzema? Oh please let’s talk something more serious.
Quick message for Ronaldo’s critics: First as a matter of courtesy, I know how hard those goals would hurt as you try to swallow in pretence, so I hope you feel better now?
Remember those goals, remember even when he’s having an awful game that he’s not done yet then do yourself a favour: Take off your hat, kneel and kiss the ring and like Birdman once advised: “PUT SOME RESPECK ON THE NAME!”
💯