Cristiano Ronaldo's dream night

Posted Sunday, October 04, 2015 by Marca.com

Three hundred and twenty-four goals and 308 games later, Cristiano Ronaldo is able to look back and remember the strikes that have turned him into Real Madrid's record goalscorer. Although it may be hard to comprehend, he has each and every one stored in his mind on a sort of hard drive filtered into various categories: beautiful goals, less beautiful ones, key ones, decisive ones, emotional ones... However, when it comes to recalling his most special moment in Real Madrid colours, none of the goals that have taken him past Raúl come into play.

When Ronaldo talks football, he always ends up harking back to one night in particular: 5th March 2013, when he returned to Manchester for the first time as an opposition player since signing for Real Madrid in summer 2009. The Old Trafford faithful welcomed CR7 back with such passion and love that his return was simply unforgettable and generated a unique feeling within him that he had never previously experienced on a football pitch. No influx of goals, no matter the opposition or setting, would ever send that memory to a lowly place in the back of his mind as seen by how emotional the 30-year-old becomes with the mere mention of it.

Cristiano struggled to lift his head that night when he took to the pitch for the warm-up in an effort not to be taken aback by the crowd's reaction. That attempt was scuppered by the stadium announcer who left the Portuguese's name until last before uttering, "A special welcome back to number 7, Cristiano Ronaldo!" The Old Trafford crowd took to their feet in unison to show him their appreciation, making the forward feel rather small in the process.

The match kicked off and the focus turned to which team would secure a Champions League quarter-final berth after a 1-1 draw in the first leg. Real Madrid ended up going through with none other than Ronaldo himself grabbing the winner, although he refused to celebrate what was one of his most important goals for the club at the time. The Portuguese did subsequently admit, however, that his emotions got the better of him in what was a below-par performance on such a memorable night.