Ronaldo: People who love me never have any doubts

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo issued a timely message to his critics following his match-winning display against Bayern Munich on Wednesday.

The Portugal captain reached 100 goals in UEFA club competitions with a second-half double at the Allianz Arena that gave Madrid a 2-1 victory in their Champions League quarter-final first leg.

Ronaldo had failed to score in the competition since September 27 – a run of 659 minutes – before he struck early in the second half to cancel out Arturo Vidal’s opening goal.

But the 32-year-old insists he was not aware of any comments from detractors and said his true fans “never have any doubts” about his ability to perform.

“I don’t know who doubts me,” he told the media. “People who love Cristiano never have any doubts. You have to tell me who doubts me because none of it has come to me.

“I’m happy, I wanted to reach this record. To do so is an honour and to do it against a team like Bayern is even better.”

100 – @Cristiano is the first player to reach 100 goals in European competitions (including #UCL , qualifying and European Supercup). Monster pic.twitter.com/vyBRH37Rww

— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 12, 2017

Bayern were leading 1-0 at half-time and should have doubled their advantage before the break, with Vidal firing a penalty over the crossbar after Dani Carvajal was controversially penalised for handball.

Madrid responded soon after the interval and a red card to Javi Martinez made life easier for Zinedine Zidane’s side before Ronaldo scored his second 13 minutes from time.

“I’m very happy. The team reacted really well,” he said. “It’s not easy to play here against a really difficult team and, losing 1-0 in the first half, we had good feelings about the second.

“We played really well, we scored early [after half-time] and the game became easier. It’s a deserved victory and everything is open for the second leg.

“[Manuel] Neuer was good, he made a few saves. Sometimes we score, sometimes we do not. If Neuer doesn’t have a day like that then maybe we could score more goals.

“Football is like that. If Vidal had scored the penalty, it would have been a different game. Football is a box of surprises and in five minutes everything can change.”

Ronaldo went on to reveal that he has altered his approach to training to ensure that he is fully fit for the decisive weeks of the campaign, and stressed that he has no qualms about being rested or substituted by Zidane.

“I’ve made a radical change in training in order to reach the end of the season in top condition,” he added. “In recent years I’ve reached the end of term at my limit, with a little injury. 

“I’ve worked with the fitness coach to be good for these two months. The team is good and Cristiano is playing well.

“The rotations? It’s something for Zidane and myself. We work in tune.”