Cristiano Ronaldo's Relentless Streak Defines His March to Real Madrid Record
One touch, two touches. Thump. It just had to be this way.
In manner and in execution, in effectiveness, it was so swift, so lethal. Combining technique, power and precision in a cocktail we'll never tire of consuming, it was a goal that, on a special afternoon at the Bernabeu, was so spectacularly emblematic of a skill set, of a footballer.
It was so Cristiano Ronaldo. And not just in a stylistic sense.
When Raul announced his retirement on Thursday, the timing felt impeccable. Not only did it bring back into sharp focus the magnitude of the Spaniard's accomplishments at Real Madrid, the announcement, as put by Marca, would take Saturday's Bernabeu into "seventh heaven," the occasion standing as a celebration of "No. 7s day."
Up in the merengue stand, a banner read, "Your house, your stand. Thank you Raul." Down on the pitch, Ronaldo thanked the same stand and others, presenting his fourth Golden Shoe, a number unmatched in the sport.
It was a day for the recognition of two men: The old No. 7 and the new No. 7; a club's reference point and its modern definition; a pair of contrast but men who were united by a special number, 323.
Not anymore, though.
With his swift and lethal strike against Levante, a goal that in rapidity was also representative of his career's transonic accumulation of them, Ronaldo moved past Raul, taking his goal tally in white to 324. Now, the Portuguese stands on his own, not just at a club but perhaps the club. At Real Madrid. And there's another number of equal significance.
For Raul, the navigation of an exhaustive 741 games across 16 seasons were necessary to scale the heights of 323 goals. For Ronaldo and his now 324, those numbers are 310 and little more than six. Think about it, and when you have, think about it some more: He's beaten one of Europe's most iconic records by 431 games.
It's not just a statistic but perhaps the statistic. And yet still it only tells part of the story.
When Ronaldo was unveiled at the Bernabeu six years ago in 2009, his £80 million price tag was matched by a welcoming audience of 80,000. As an occasion, as an exercise of grandeur, it felt groundbreaking. "[This] might not have a precedent," president Florentino Perez had said, the club itself adding that the event "could very well make history."
So would the player, they probably knew. But they couldn't have pictured just how he would do so, could they?
Not a chance.
Ronaldo's scoring achievements are so extraordinary and so immense in number that they've distorted the way we perceive a goal's worth: He's the fastest in history to 150 La Liga goals, the fastest to 200 La Liga goals, the first to score against every team in a single La Liga season, the owner of the most La Liga hat-tricks, the owner of the most La Liga hat-tricks in a single season, the all-time leading scorer in the European Cup, the record-holder for the most goals in a single European campaign, the only player to have recorded five straight 50-plus goal seasons and the man who has the longest scoring streak in El Clasico.
Those are just some of the records. And the list of greats he's stormed past at Real Madrid illustrates the air into which he's ascended: First it was Amancio Amaro whom he overtook on the scoring chart. Then it was Emilio Butragueno. Then it was Pirri. Then Paco Gento. Then Hugo Sanchez. Then Ferenc Puskas. Then Carlos Santillana. Then the incomparable Alfredo Di Stefano. And then, finally, on Saturday, Raul.
"Seventh heaven" is his.
And the manner in which he's stormed in to claim it has bordered on frightening.
His talent, a sort rarely seen previously, has taken Ronaldo beyond the definition of a footballer; his existence has become that of a sort of showman-entertainer-footballer hybrid. As a visual experience, Ronaldo's catalogue is unrivalled in his club's history, the how in this ongoing story as notable as the what.
Vivid in the memory are the blasts against Osasuna and Celta Vigo; the outrageous back-heel against Rayo Vallecano; the header against Manchester United; the staggering, left-foot thump against Sevilla; the fancy footwork against Schalke and Galatasaray; the long list against Barcelona; the free-kicks against APOEL, Marseille and Atletico Madrid—the latter of which was described by the colourful commentator Ray Hudson as "a wet dream of orgasmic proportions."
There's also that counter-attack against Ajax, better known as simply that counter-attack. A move both created and finished by Ronaldo, one that didn't feel so much like football as it did an intergalactic assault.
Frankly, what we've been watching wasn't seen by many of those who've gone before us. And yet, allowing ourselves to believe that purely talent defines Ronaldo's excellence also sells him short.
Last year, when the Portuguese's agent Jorge Mendes labelled him "the best athlete ever," it was a moment when you thought to yourself: "In this sport, as a physical specimen, he probably is, isn't he?" Of course, admitting Mendes is right about something won't sit comfortably for many, but he had a point when he insisted Ronaldo could play "until he turns 40."
Indeed, there's an obsession for perfection within this footballing stormtrooper, his dedication almost tiring to think about.
"No one trains like him," says his former manager Carlo Ancelotti, per Sid Lowe of ESPN FC. "He prepares and recovers better than anyone."
Ancelotti's former assistant, Paul Clement, explains it further: "I remember one game where we came back at three in the morning, and he went to have an ice bath. Another example: Six in the morning, we had come back from Istanbul, and there's the physio giving him a rubdown."
Evidently, Ronaldo's commitment to his body is unwavering, perhaps unprecedented in football, and managers from Ancelotti to Sir Alex Ferguson have often spoken about his physique.
For his critics, of course, it's this that's perceived as an obsession with appearance rather than professionalism, evidence of vanity, but so much of that criticism misses the point even if its existence is understandable. From Ronaldo, some of his more maligned acts have messages wrapped up in them.
Remember the mocked thigh celebration—the one seen after his bullet against Osasuna in 2012? Of course you do, who doesn't? As an exercise in grace, it didn't exactly mark highly, but there was something in it, something you felt he was trying to get across.
Too often, the extent to which he actually works is overlooked. What he has, what he's done: It's all put down to gifts. Thus, such acts from Ronaldo can be interpreted as a way to dispel such a notion, to remind that the gifts are nothing without the graft.
Basically, a reminder that his leg can do only this because he made his leg this way.
It's this relentless streak, not that raw talent, that defines him. And it's a streak that's evident everywhere.
In September, Sky Sports published a comprehensive breakdown of his scoring record, revealing everything from the opponents he's torched most often to the body parts with which he's scored most. The really telling statistic, though, was to do with the timing of his goals: Ronaldo has been more prolific between the 76th and 90th minutes of games than in any other period.
Naturally, there will be those who take a dim view of such a statistic, cynics likely to feel justified that goals are accumulated when results are already decided. But this is the most compelling evidence of Ronaldo's relentless streak.
For him, one goal isn't enough. Two isn't enough. Three, four, five: It's never enough. It's the same with winning, with dominating even. There's always somewhere else to take the achievement, the feat. It can always go beyond where it currently is.
Obsessive? Yes. But there's something incredibly admirable in it, too.
As recently as September's meeting with Shakhtar Donetsk, Ronaldo was exhibiting the trait as fiercely as ever. The game already settled thanks to his goals, those around him losing the fire, the Portuguese was still charging down everything, still pushing harder than everyone having already contributed more than everyone, his craving not satisfied. It's never satisfied. When others begin checking out, he rolls up his sleeves and goes again. And again. And again.
In the end, he got another against Shakhtar. He got his hat-trick.
It's why he doesn't just break records, he obliterates them.
Whether he's the best will always be up for debate; what won't be is his commitment to being so. "I'm going to work to be the best ever," he said last November. And that's what he does: He works. Without exception.
Every. Single. Day. Of. His. Life.
It's not only done through intensity, either; it's done with intelligence as well.
For 18 months now, we've been witnessing an evolutionary period for Ronaldo. Now in his 30s, Real Madrid's all-time leading scorer has reined in his game, embracing the new limitations put upon him by time and remodelling himself to be as prolific as ever when precedent says he shouldn't be.
In 2015, his game is less explosive but more controlled. Whereas he once operated as a left-sided bazooka, he's fast becoming the world's most lethal No. 9, his success based on economy of movement, on cleverly timed bursts, on exacting trailing runs and on one-touch finishing.
It's a little less dynamic, yes, but the end-product is no less effective. His play has become concentrated, more precise, the method narrower. And the goals don't stop flowing. Ever.
"I know I'll have a place in the history of the game," he said to FIFA.com in January (h/t ESPN FC), clearly aware of the legacy he's ferociously trying to perfect. "I know I'll have a nice page devoted to me between some of the all-time greats."
That's undeniable, but it won't just be a page; it will be a whole section, and a fairly hefty one at that. A section of extraordinary visual appeal, bursting with fearsome blasts and back-heels and headers and fancy footwork and free-kicks. And numbers, records. So many records, the most important of all being Saturday's: 324. At Real Madrid.
One touch, two touches. Thump. We'll never tire of that.
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