Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo carried on where he left off on Saturday by grabbing a brace to secure Madrid’s passage through to the knock out stage of the Champions League.
I have to admit, not being a Ronaldo fan myself, the winger is indeed setting himself apart from the pack. Ronaldo is the top scorer in La Liga with 14 goals to his name and a look into Champions League statistics reveals just why Madrid paid $131 million for his services.
Ronaldo leads the table for most attempts on goal with 14 shots and also leads the table for most attempts off target with 15 shots. Tonight his fierce rival for this year’s coveted FIFA player of the year Lionel Messi takes to the pitch and the focus will be on whether he can go one better than Ronaldo and grab his second hat trick in less than a week.
After last night’s victory, Real Madrid director general Jorge Valdano has immediately shifted his sides focus to their clasico fixture against Barcelona this Sunday.
“It was a strong result and we are very satisfied. Real Madrid goes into El Clasico feeling very well, and it will be a top-notch show.
“It is a game to be happy about, because we have played at a good level. Let’s enjoy this and think about the next match. El Clasico will be a great game of football between the best two teams in the world.”
The Messi-Ronaldo debate is once again brought back to focus withfans eagerly awaiting Sunday’s match. To be honest, as things stand, their is nothing to separate these players.
Both are neck and neck in the league standings as top scorers and both are looking to win the win the coveted FIFA ballond’0r award for 2010. So who is better? Messi or Ronaldo? Well, we will just have to find out on Sunday.
Photo credit: from LizNN7
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