On Saturday, having conquered Bayern Munich and Atletico Madrid in the quarter and semi-final of this season’s Champions League, Cristiano will aim to overcome the only remaining opponent: Juventus.
The Portuguese ace could clinch his fourth title, which would take him level with Seedorf’s record. However, a lot more is at stake for the 32-year-old than a first-place medal.
With this being the last major club match until next season, talks of who will win the upcoming Ballon d’Or – or even FIFA’s The Best award – will soon erupt. The four-time winner appeared to be out of the race real early, but the latter stage of this season has him back in contention.
With La Liga already in his pocket, winning the Champions League would give Ronaldo a huge advantage over Lionel Messi and other candidates. La Pulga has been more prolific this campaign, but more silverware will tilt the decision in Cristiano’s favor.
Winning this European title will put the 32-year-old one title ahead of Leo, and open the doorway to winning another two cups: the UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup. Both would be Los Blancos’ to lose should they beat Juventus on Saturday.
This means when the time comes to name the world’s best players, Ronaldo could have already won five titles – including the Confederations Cup and Spanish Super Cup – with the Club World Cup prize on the horizon.
Although Cristiano would still be a candidate for the Ballon d’Or should Real Madrid lose at Cardiff, winning the final would knock it out of the park for the former Man United ace. And given his age and dips in form in 2016/17, this might be the very last Ballon d’Or he competes for.
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