Cristiano Ronaldo in This Form Keeps Real Madrid's Champions League Dream Alive

Brutal. Savage. A flashback. A rewind. 

This was all of the above and more. 

With 49 minutes up on the clock, Cristiano Ronaldo received Sergio Ramos' pass between the lines of Celta Vigo's defence. Only moments earlier, the Bernabeu had directed its ire at Ronaldo when a no-look pass had gone astray, so this time there would be no pass; the blinkers were on. 

Ronaldo took a touch and turned. Inexplicably, Celta had gifted him an acre of the Bernabeu's prime real estate; there was time for another touch. And another one.

Then, thump. 

Ronaldo ran toward the corner flag, hand to his hear, his message obvious. A 25-yard blast had torn a hole in the time-space continuum to put Real Madrid 2-0 up and teleport the Bernabeu back to 2012.

But he wasn't done. Not even close. 

Eight minutes later, from a free kick and essentially the same distance, the Portuguese found the same net but with even more force. A minute later, a carbon copy was only prevented when Ruben Blanco—an appropriate surname for a goalkeeper who saw little more than a blur of white in the second half—tipped another Ronaldo free kick onto the bar. 

As 10-minute barrages go, this was extraordinary, almost as though the Bernabeu was being treated to a YouTube compilation in real time. 

But again, Ronaldo wasn't done. 

Moments later, he had the ball in the back of the net again, finishing off a fine move orchestrated by Casemiro and Isco. Soon after, he had another, a thumping header from a corner completing a 26-minute "poker."

What a tonic this was. 

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At kick-off, Saturday had looked capable of being another toxic afternoon at the Bernabeu.

Up in the south stand, the always-vocal Fondo Sur unveiled a tifo with a message for Madrid's players in the form of a quote from Alfredo Di Stefano: "To wear this badge, you have to sweat the shirt." There was a protest, too, the same group turning their backs on the action for five minutes, and elsewhere, another banner read "Florentino, listen to the stadium and resign."

The mood was icy. The angst was palpable. The Bernabeu's most recent memory was another surrender to Atletico Madrid, their cross-city rivals who are now their cross-city tormentors. That memory was still vivid and that afternoon had completely fractured Madrid, divisions opening up as a title challenge evaporated. 

"If everyone was at my level," Ronaldo had quipped in the aftermath of that defeat, "we'd be top." The Portuguese later clarified his remark but immediately it was seized upon and condemned amid the fury, its important message completely missed. 

After all, Ronaldo had a point.

When it comes to drive, conditioning, relentlessness, consistency, an ability to go again and again, Ronaldo is peerless at Madrid. This might not be his best season at the club, but still he has 39 goals in 35 games, and, while others have wilted, tired, he's been ever-present, completing almost every single minute of Madrid's season. 

It's this Ronaldo was getting at: preparation, mentality, durability, an ability to recover from setbacks, a capacity to minimise "off" days and a stubborn refusal to yield. 

That is his level. Few of the team-mates—perhaps none—can say they're at the same one. But if one or two have been, they're not anymore: After tailing off in 2015, the other component to Ronaldo's level, the raw brilliance part, is on the rise again. 

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On Saturday, the 31-year-old's explosion against Celta was an emphatic continuation of a trend. 

Since the appointment of Zinedine Zidane in January, there's been a notable emotional shift in Madrid's key man. He's looked freer, calmer, happier. But more than anything else, he's looked more like his old self. 

Against Athletic Bilbao, Ronaldo's stunning opener was a first glimpse of peak Ronaldo, the 2012 one. Days later against Roma, another blast confirmed the change. Then, against Malaga, there was a soaring long-range header, which, though admittedly came from an offside position, was another example of a suddenly recaptured power from the Portuguese; further evidence that the explosiveness, the sheer force, is back. 

Then came Saturday's eruption. 

In a game full of notable events for Madrid—the return of Gareth Bale, Casemiro's bright display and Real's second-half intensity—this was unquestionably the most notable. In this form, Ronaldo gives Madrid a swagger and a volcanic threat—the feeling that, at any moment, anything is possible. 

In the league, of course, anything isn't possible; it's already gone. But the Champions League hasn't, and it's in relation to the Champions League where Ronaldo's rewind feels potentially significant. 

The continental competition always lends itself to moments, sporadic brilliance and the remarkable. This Real Madrid team is too flawed for the marathon of a domestic league, but almost on his own Ronaldo gives his club a puncher's chance in Europe. 

On Tuesday, Madrid meet Roma in the second leg of their round-of-16 tie carrying a two-goal advantage. Progress, and Ronaldo and Co., despite the tumultuous nature of their season, will be only four games from a final. Perhaps only four defining moments from a final. 

Saturday produced four on its own. What could another four do?

With Ronaldo like this, "Undecima" might still be possible. 

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