It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
By the time the 2007/08 season kicked off, however, he was hitting his stride. The 2006/07 campaign had been a breakthrough; it was the first time he’d scored over 20 goals (23, to be precise) as United won their first Premier League title since his arrival at Old Trafford. And finally he found the net in Europe – two goals in a 7-1 quarter-final rout of Roma then another in the first leg of the semi against AC Milan. Milan proved too strong back at San Siro, but Ronaldo had found his range and there would be no stopping him the following season.
The goals he scored in the run to the 2008 final revealed his full armoury. First, headers against his former club Sporting CP and Dynamo Kyiv: one diving, the other guided into the net with precision. Back at Old Trafford against Dynamo, he showcased his skill on the ball with a jinking run down the left and shot into the far corner. Goal number five was a dipping, swerving free-kick against Sporting, before a close-range poacher’s strike after pouncing on a loose ball against Lyon. His goal in the quarter-final against Roma was the pick of the bunch – another soaring header as he broke into the box to connect with Scholes’ inviting, hanging cutback.
So onto the final and the crowning moment in a season when Ronaldo had finally made his mark on the Champions League. But, despite its brilliance, that goal is not what this first all-English Champions League final is best remembered for. The 2008 showpiece is better known for a miss, John Terry’s slip in the torrential rain as he struck what would have been the winning penalty in the shoot-out. The Chelsea captain’s shot hit the post and United were given a lifeline they didn’t relinquish.
A thrilling match had ebbed and flowed. Frank Lampard had cancelled out Ronaldo’s opener just before half-time and twice Chelsea rattled the woodwork. The pressure got to Didier Drogba, who was dismissed for lashing out at Nemanja Vidić four minutes from the end of extra time. Perhaps things would have turned out differently for Chelsea had the forward been available to take Chelsea’s fifth spot kick. Perhaps not. It was United’s young star Ronaldo, after all, who had earlier missed from the spot to give Terry the chance to win it for Chelsea. Ronaldo lay face down sobbing into the Luzhniki turf after Čech guessed right to bar his way to goal. Edwin van der Sar made sure his misfortune was just another footnote on an extraordinary night by saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to earn a third European crown for United.
“There was a bit of fate about it,” United manager Alex Ferguson said after the match, and it did seem as if the weight of history was with his side. It was 50 years since the plane carrying Matt Busby’s young team had crashed on take-off in Munich on the way back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade. One of the survivors, Bobby Charlton – who also opened the scoring for United with a leaping header in a European Cup final – was in Moscow to lead the current generation up the stairs into the stands at the Luzhniki to lift the trophy. Ronaldo was following close behind him, and the pair stopped and embraced, Ronaldo even giving Charlton a pat on the head as they waited for the other players to collect their medals. Forty years after Charlton had scored twice to secure United’s first European Cup win, Ronaldo’s towering header had contributed to them winning their third. The torch had been passed; United had conquered Europe again.
It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
By the time the 2007/08 season kicked off, however, he was hitting his stride. The 2006/07 campaign had been a breakthrough; it was the first time he’d scored over 20 goals (23, to be precise) as United won their first Premier League title since his arrival at Old Trafford. And finally he found the net in Europe – two goals in a 7-1 quarter-final rout of Roma then another in the first leg of the semi against AC Milan. Milan proved too strong back at San Siro, but Ronaldo had found his range and there would be no stopping him the following season.
The goals he scored in the run to the 2008 final revealed his full armoury. First, headers against his former club Sporting CP and Dynamo Kyiv: one diving, the other guided into the net with precision. Back at Old Trafford against Dynamo, he showcased his skill on the ball with a jinking run down the left and shot into the far corner. Goal number five was a dipping, swerving free-kick against Sporting, before a close-range poacher’s strike after pouncing on a loose ball against Lyon. His goal in the quarter-final against Roma was the pick of the bunch – another soaring header as he broke into the box to connect with Scholes’ inviting, hanging cutback.
So onto the final and the crowning moment in a season when Ronaldo had finally made his mark on the Champions League. But, despite its brilliance, that goal is not what this first all-English Champions League final is best remembered for. The 2008 showpiece is better known for a miss, John Terry’s slip in the torrential rain as he struck what would have been the winning penalty in the shoot-out. The Chelsea captain’s shot hit the post and United were given a lifeline they didn’t relinquish.
A thrilling match had ebbed and flowed. Frank Lampard had cancelled out Ronaldo’s opener just before half-time and twice Chelsea rattled the woodwork. The pressure got to Didier Drogba, who was dismissed for lashing out at Nemanja Vidić four minutes from the end of extra time. Perhaps things would have turned out differently for Chelsea had the forward been available to take Chelsea’s fifth spot kick. Perhaps not. It was United’s young star Ronaldo, after all, who had earlier missed from the spot to give Terry the chance to win it for Chelsea. Ronaldo lay face down sobbing into the Luzhniki turf after Čech guessed right to bar his way to goal. Edwin van der Sar made sure his misfortune was just another footnote on an extraordinary night by saving Nicolas Anelka’s penalty to earn a third European crown for United.
“There was a bit of fate about it,” United manager Alex Ferguson said after the match, and it did seem as if the weight of history was with his side. It was 50 years since the plane carrying Matt Busby’s young team had crashed on take-off in Munich on the way back from a European Cup tie in Belgrade. One of the survivors, Bobby Charlton – who also opened the scoring for United with a leaping header in a European Cup final – was in Moscow to lead the current generation up the stairs into the stands at the Luzhniki to lift the trophy. Ronaldo was following close behind him, and the pair stopped and embraced, Ronaldo even giving Charlton a pat on the head as they waited for the other players to collect their medals. Forty years after Charlton had scored twice to secure United’s first European Cup win, Ronaldo’s towering header had contributed to them winning their third. The torch had been passed; United had conquered Europe again.
It is a goal Cristiano Ronaldo will go on to score time and again. The spectacular leap. The gravity-defying time he seems to hang in the air. Then the header, angled low to Petr Čech’s right, placed so perfectly that the Chelsea keeper makes no attempt to stop it. Like Ronaldo’s marker Michael Essien, like the 67,000 fans in the Luzhniki Stadium and millions more worldwide, Čech can only watch as the Manchester United winger opens the scoring 26 minutes into the 2008 Champions League final.
It’s a stunning goal. Paul Scholes and Wes Brown exchange passes on the right touchline, working space for the defender to arc a cross towards the far post. Essien, playing out of position and given the thankless task of shackling the Portuguese sensation on this epic night in Moscow, braces to jump, but the ball is too far above him. It sails over his head though somehow not that of Ronaldo, who has already started his climb when Essien turns and realises what’s about to happen just behind him. Bang. Goal. 1-0 Manchester United.
It is a sight we will become used to down the years – indeed, five years later Ronaldo will score an almost identical goal against United in the white of Real Madrid. But, for now, we are just beginning to understand what this kid from Madeira is capable of.
From today’s perspective, the Moscow header was the climax to an incredible season for Ronaldo – his 42nd goal in a campaign that had already brought United a second successive Premier League title and would contribute to the then 23-year-old winning the first of his five Ballons d’Or. His eight Champions League strikes also ensured he finished as top scorer for the first time. Ronaldo had conquered Europe, but it had taken time for the floodgates to open. Now the competition’s all-time leading scorer with 140 goals from a record 183 games, it is remarkable to think that it wasn’t until his 27th Champions League match that Ronaldo scored his first goal in the competition proper.
