La Undecima? Ronaldo is only interested in his three Champions Leagues
"I continue making history, writing my page in the history of football." Those could be words said by anyone who from an individual sport, but no. Those are the first words said by Cristiano Ronaldo after winning the Champions League on Saturday. Once more, the Portuguese international made it clear that the only thing which interests him is his ego. Everything else, as Dani Alves would say, is just clutter.
Against Atletico Madrid in the final, Ronaldo was very poor for 120 minutes. One penalty, the one which handed Zinedine Zidane's side victory, transformed how his game was viewed. As he scored the winning goal in the shoot-out, he ripped off his shirt and exhibited his body as if he had been the hero of the game. That could not be further from the truth.
The extreme happiness shown by the 31-year-old at the San Siro didn't come from Madrid's 11th Champions League title, but from his success from 12-yards. In 2008, when playing for Manchester United, he missed a penalty in the final and fell to the floor in tears, even before the result had been decided. The Red Devils ended up winning the trophy but that didn't seem to make up for his miss. He has always prioritised individual success over the collective. "I am happy to have won my third Champions League," he said on Saturday.
While the MSN posed with the Copa del Rey at the Vicente Calderon, in Milan, Ronaldo posed for photos alone with the Champions League trophy, showing the number three with his fingers. It's that Cristiano loves to be the centre of attention. If he can't do it on the pitch - all the time he is participating less in his team's play - then he'll do it off the pitch, as he did when he flirted with Laurent Blanc at the Santiago Bernabeu to fuel rumours about a transfer to Paris Saint-Germain.
It's even known inside the Real Madrid dressing room that Ronaldo is an egotist. Gareth Bale knows it, he is has received countless tellings off for not assisting him, and so does Karim Benzema, who has celebrated goals without the Portuguese, who instead has been dwelling on a chance he had missed in the build up to the goal. If Ronaldo misses a chance, it doesn't matter if Madrid end up scoring, he's still lamenting his bad 'luck' with his famous gestures. Always with his arms by his waist, looking to the fans, of course. Without going much further, he didn't celebrate Sergio Ramos' goal in the Lisbon final two years ago.
In January, Ronaldo said he felt "happy" to be a finalist in the Ballon d'Or even though he had not won a single title. If his goal scoring figures are better than Lionel Messi's, he's happy. The problems come when it's the reverse, as happened when Jose Mourinho was in charge of Madrid. "I am sad," he said publicly after he felt the club had not done enough to campaign for him to win the Ballon d'Or one year.
CR7 had problems with Marcelo when the Brazilian dared to tell the truth. "Messi is the best in the world," he said in 2012. After that, Ronaldo wanted nothing to do with the left-back for a while, although they have since made up after Marcelo came out in favour of his team-mate at a later date. Ronaldo is obsessed with being the best, while Messi's energy is used to make his team function. Without doubt, they have two different ways of understanding football. And life.
