SUMMARY
- Cristiano Ronaldo's side Manchester United faced Porto for the Champions League quarterfinals in the 2008-09 season.
- While everyone expected Manchester United to grab an easy victory, Porto matched Old Trafford's score of 2-2 in the first leg.
In his more than two-decade-long career, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored hundreds of goals. Since his first-ever career goal that he scored back in 2002 till 2024, Ronaldo has scored 885 goals and has a glittering trophy cabinet that would put most soccer players to shame. However, let’s take a look at one of his greatest-ever goals as it marks its 15th anniversary today.
Back in the 2008-09 season, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Manchester United faced Jose Mourinho’s Porto in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Having won the title last year defeating Chelsea in the final, everyone thought it was going to be a piece of cake for Manchester United. However, Mourinho had saved something special for the occasion as Porto drew the first leg 2-2 at Old Trafford.
15 years ago today, Cristiano Ronaldo scored THIS goal in the Champions League. 🤯
— TC (@totalcristiano) April 14, 2024
In the return leg, Sir Alex Ferguson‘s United knew it was going to be a tough nut to crack to defeat Porto at their home. However, if Ronaldo has managed to establish one thing in his career, it is that he is built for the big occasions. In just the sixth minute of the game, the United talisman latched onto a pass from Anderson a few yards in front of the half-line mark and decided to go for goal.
In what was an outrageous attempt, Ronaldo managed to score from 40 yards out as the Porto goalkeeper Helton couldn’t do anything to stop the ball from nestling into the top corner. It has been fifteen years since then, and the fans still can’t stop drooling over the goal, with one fan even writing, “This guy is a beast.” Ronaldo’s goal marked a historic win as United became the first English team to win at Porto.
Cristiano Ronaldo won the Puskas award for his goal against Porto
Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal did more than bag his team a historic win against Jose Mourinho‘s Porto. It also got him the Puskas Award, which is awarded for the best goal of the year. The award is named after the Hungarian soccer icon Ferenc Puskas who passed away back in 2006. The award was first introduced in 2009, and it got a worthy winner with Ronaldo bagging the award.
Cristiano Ronaldo won his only career Puskas award in 2009 for that incredible strike against Porto. pic.twitter.com/QJtgVYv6PJ
— TheCristianoFan 🇵🇹 (@TheCristianoFan) April 15, 2018
Cristiano Ronaldo’s thunderbolt strike against Porto, which reportedly traveled at an average speed of 103 kilometers per hour, was chosen to be the best goal of the 2008-09 season. The Al-Nassr star has also admitted that it was probably the best goal of his career in an interview. Although, Ronaldo might have changed his stance after he scored an unbelievable overhead kick goal against Juventus in 2018.
Lionel Messi holds a unique Puskas record despite never winning it
While Lionel Messi has won the World Cup, the Champions League, several Ballon d’Or, and multiple league titles, one particular award has always continued to elude him. It is none other than the Puskas Award! Despite coming close on several occasions, the Argentine superstar has never quite managed to win the best goal of the season.
Lionel Messi has been nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award for a World Record 7 times compared to Ronaldo’s 2 nominations only 🤯
A THREAD 🧵 [of all those goals & more with commentary] pic.twitter.com/dMaSbn2Cpm
— Max Stéph (@maxstephh) November 6, 2023
Although, quite interestingly, Lionel Messi does hold the record of receiving the most nominations for the Puskas Award. The Inter Miami star has received as many as seven nominations, with his former FC Barcelona teammates Neymar Jr. and Zlatan Ibrahimovic with five and four nominations respectively. It also continues to be one of the rare awards that Cristiano Ronaldo has managed to win but not Messi.