Cristiano Ronaldo Scores Stunning Back-Heel Volley To Rescue Point For Real Madrid
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a stunning, spinning, improvised back-heel volley to save a draw for Real Madrid against Valencia, which kept them in the La Liga title race.
The Portugese forward notched his 50th goal of the 2013-14 season in the the 93rd minute as Real sought to salvage a draw. You can check out Ronaldo’s effort below:
Valencia had taken the lead against Real Madrid in the 44th minute through Jeremy Mathieu, however Sergio Ramos, who scored two goals for Carlo Ancelotti’s side against Bayern Munich mid-week, equalised for the Spanish giants in the 59th minute.
The Bernabeu crowd expected Madrid to push on to victory after Ramos’ header, which came courtesy of a Ronaldo assist, however Dani Parejo levelled for Valencia soon after and Real were then unable to find a way through their stubborn defence.
Ronaldo finally showed his true worth though and stunningly improvised to record the equaliser in the last moments of the match.
Ronaldo’s goal means that Real Madrid are still in the title race, however if they’d managed to win they would have be in control of their own destiny. This is because both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona drew over the weekend as the three leading clubs in the Spanish league stumbled.
The La Liga table now looks like this:
1) Atletico Madrid, 88 points, 36 games played.
2) Barcelona, 85 points, 36 games played.
3) Real Madrid, 83 points, 35 games played.
Both Atletico and Barcelona only have two games left to play, while Real have three. However, Ateltico and Barcelona have to play each other on the last game and if they draw or Barcelona win Real will be crowned champions if they are victorious in their remaining matches.
Atletico also have to play Malaga, while Barcelona have to tackle Elche, and Real face Valladolid, Celta Vigo and Espanyol in their final three matches.
As you’d expect, reaction to Ronaldo’s latest golazo was overwhelming:
Even by the extraordinarily high standards of Cristiano Ronaldo that goal was both exceptional and crucial! What a player! — Gary Lineker (@GaryLineker) May 4, 2014
Absurd goal from Ronaldo. — Jacob Steinberg (@JacobSteinberg) May 4, 2014
That goal is still making love to me. #Ronaldo
— Chewie (@RoughEstateDate) May 4, 2014
Meanwhile, Ronaldo’s strike means that he is the first player in Spanish football history to score 50+ goals for four consecutive seasons.
When Ronaldo first arrived in Spain in 2009/2010 he scored a paltry 33 in 35 games, but he has since followed this up with 53 in 54, 60 in 55 and 55 in 55 respectively, while he is now on 50 in 45. That means that he is currently scoring 1.11 goals per game.
No wonder he is now regarded as one of the best players to ever play the game, a spot he could claim as his own if he leads Portugal to World Cup glory this summer.
[Image via Yiannis Kourtos/Shutterstock]
