He has already scored 15 times against Atlético, but has yet to do so in Milan. UEFA.com presents a Cristiano Ronaldo-eye view of the UEFA Champions League final.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the last time Real Madrid met Atlético in a UEFA Champions League final, but can he do so again in Milan? UEFA.com picks out some key statistics.
Records to be broken
If there are milestones to pass, Cristiano Ronaldo tends to pass them; for the final in Milan, there are three significant ones. The 31-year-old has scored 16 goals in the competition this season and needs just one more to match the record for a single UEFA Champions League campaign – which he set himself in 2013/14. Moreover, he can match Lionel Messi (top marksman from 2008/09 to 2011/12) in becoming the competition’s top scorer for a fourth successive season.
He can also move a step clear of Messi in becoming the first player to score in three UEFA Champions League finals. Ronaldo is one of 16 players to have struck in two European Cup finals, but has a way to go to match Alfredo Di Stéfano’s all-time mark of registering in five European Cup deciders with Real Madrid (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
Scoring in Milan
Stadio San Siro represents an unusual blank in Ronaldo’s prolific scoring career. He has played 360 minutes of UEFA Champions League football at the stadium – three games with Manchester United and one with Real Madrid – but has yet to score, or indeed feature on a winning side.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s previous games in Milan (W0 D2 L2)
AC Milan 2-2 Real Madrid, 03/11/10
Internazionale 0-0 United, 24/02/09
AC Milan 3-0 United, 02/05/07
AC Milan 1-0 United, 08/03/05
Scoring against Atlético
The Portuguese wonder has scored 15 goals in 24 games against Atlético – including league, Spanish Cup, UEFA Champions League and Spanish Super Cup matches – including one hat-trick, in a 4-1 away win in April 2012, and one sending off, in a 2-1 extra-time, Copa del Rey home defeat around a month later.
That works out at around 0.625 goals per game – slightly lower than his UEFA Champions League average of just over 0.72 strikes per match.
He has played 2,117 minutes of football against Atlético, thus averaging a goal every 141 minutes or so. However, he has not scored in his last 487 minutes of football against Diego Simeone’s side since registering in a 2-2 Copa del Rey draw in January 2015.
Atlético can arguably do a couple of things to help extend that barren run:
1) Do not concede a penalty; seven of Ronaldo’s 15 strikes against Atlético have come from the spot.
2) Pay special attention to him in the first 25 minutes of the game; of those 15 goals, eight were scored in the opening 25 minutes – and four of them between the start of minute 22 and the end of minute 25.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s games against Atlético (W12 D5 L7)
including minutes played – Liga unless otherwise stated
90: Madrid 3-2 Atlético, 28/03/10
90: Madrid 2-0 Atlético, 07/11/10
90: Madrid 3-1 Atlético, 13/01/11 (Copa del Rey) – one goal: 60
90: Atlético 0-1 Madrid, 20/01/11 (Copa del Rey) – one goal: 22
70: Atlético 1-2 Madrid, 19/03/11
90: Madrid 4-1 Atlético, 26/11/11 – two goals: 23pen, 82pen
90: Atlético 1-4 Madrid, 11/04/12 – three goals: 24, 67, 82pen
90: Madrid 2-0 Atlético, 01/12/12 – one goal: 15
115: Madrid 1-2 Atlético, 17/05/12 (Copa del Rey) – one goal: 14, shown red card in extra-time
90: Madrid 0-1 Atlético, 28/09/13
90: Madrid 3-0 Atlético, 05/02/14 (Copa del Rey)
74: Atlético 0-2 Madrid, 11/02/14 (Copa del Rey) – two goals: 6pen, 15pen
90: Atlético 2-2 Madrid, 02/03.14 – one goal: 81
120: Madrid 4-1 Atlético, 24/05/14 (UEFA Champions League final) – one goal: 120pen
44: Madrid 1-1 Atlético, 19/08/14 (Spanish Super Cup)
45: Atlético 1-0 Madrid, 22/08/14 (Spanish Super Cup)
90: Madrid 1-2 Atlético, 13/09/14 – one goal: 25pen
28: Atlético 2-0 Madrid, 07/01/15 (Copa del Rey)
90: Madrid 2-2 Atlético, 15/01/15 (Copa del Rey) – one goal: 53
90: Atlético 4-0 Madrid, 07/02/15
90: Atlético 0-0 Madrid, 14/04/15 (UEFA Champions League quarter-final)
90: Madrid 1-0 Atlético, 22/04/15 (UEFA Champions League quarter-final)
90: Atlético 1-1 Madrid, 04/10/15
90: Madrid 0-1 Atlético, 27/02/16
Source: UEFA.Com
