Topics: Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Barcelona
In an El Clasico tie on Tuesday night, a Ronaldo brace silenced the Camp Nou guiding Madrid to the Copa Del Rey Final, Ronaldo has now scored in six consecutive matches at the Camp Nou.

Camp Nou had not always been Ronaldo’s favourite venue and he failed to influence games played in the stadium, when he initially joined Madrid. His debut in a Clasico was at Camp Nou only, when the world awaited two of the biggest football sensations Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi to go against one another, in the biggest football fixture. Ronaldo was not able to have much authority over the game and Barcelona emerged victorious through an Ibrahimovic strike, but Ronaldo was yet to experience the worst.

The next time Madrid visited the Catalan’s home, they were not welcomed well and the Los Blancos experienced a humiliating 5-0 thumping at the hands of their arch nemesis. 80 million pound summer signing Cristiano Ronaldo was put under severe criticism, with the media highlighting him a flop, his inability to score in big matches was exclaimed. 

 

Ronaldo had till then not scored a single goal against Barcelona, failing to score against them even in his time at Manchester United. Ronaldo like the warrior he is, has picked himself up from then onwards and has terrorized the Catalans ever since. He was the difference when Madrid won their first title under Jose Mourinho, when Ronaldo scored the only goal in the Copa Del Rey final against Barcelona. 

But what has been most astonishing is Ronaldo’s amazing form at the lions own den; the Camp Nou. Barcelona are threatening on a normal day, but at the Camp Nou they are unplayable. However Ronaldo is gradually starting to make the fixture his own and much to Barca’s misery, he has scored in six consecutive matches at the venue.

The best, arguably, of the six came in a La Liga tie back in April last year, when Ronaldo scored an important goal which ensured a Madrid victory, with the Los Blancos cruising towards a title win being seven points clear of Barcelona.

Madrid visited the Camp Nou again on the 23rd of August, this time in a Spanish Super Cup tie. Cristiano gave the Castillians the lead in the tenth minute courtesy of a well placed header, however Madrid were not able to take advantage of the lead and eventually lost 3-2.
Real Madrid next made a trip to Barcelona on the 7th of October in a League tie, a tie which was dominated by two of the best players in the world. The match constituted of a brace from both Messi and Ronaldo and ultimately ended a draw.

But his antics last night at Camp Nou characterized his best display at the stadium. With over 90,000 in attendance cheering their local side, Ronaldo continuously tormented the Barcelona defense. With his electrifying pace he repeatedly bullied Gerard Pique, who could not withhold the pressure from the Madrid man. It was Pique only who unable to withstand the trickery from Ronaldo, tripped him inside the unforgiveable area gifting away a penalty to Madrid, which was calmly converted by Ronaldo.

He was well positioned for the second goal and after a Di Maria shot was parried to his path by Barcelona keeper Jose Pinto, he buried the ball in the back of the net with a fine finish. The goal followed a “keep calm” celebration, with the Portuguese captain mocking his critics not with his words, but with his actions. He could not contribute much in his initial matches at Camp Nou, but his recent record at Camp Nou has certainly put his critics at shame.

Ronaldo has finally silenced all his critics at least for the time being, initially categorized as a flop for not being able to score against Barcelona, the Portuguese has shown his true colors and that too at the enemy’s own home.


Here are some interesting facts of Ronaldo at Camp Nou:

  • Ronaldo was not able to score in his first five games at the Camp Nou, this includes Manchester United’s Champions League tie against the Catalans in 2007/2008
  • Ronaldo has scored in all of his last six visits to the Camp Nou, scoring eight goals in the process
  • Ronaldo became the tenth player in the history of Real Madrid to score two goals in a single match at the Camp Nou. The other nine include: Raul, Van Nistelroy, Puskas, Di Stefano, Arsuagi, Rubio, Moreri, Aldaya and Ghent.
  • In last night’s tie at Camp Nou Ronaldo hit an impressive nine shots at goal, five of them being on target. This was two more than the entire Barcelona team could do combined
  • In their last six meetings at Camp Nou, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi has scored six compared to Real Madrid’s Ronaldo who has scored eight