There’s a fire burning in Cristiano Ronaldo. Maybe it’s designed to lead Real Madrid forward, to a champions or even the Champions League trophy. Maybe it’s about himself – his goals, a Pichichi trophy, the Ballon d’Or, and proving that he’s better than Lionel Messi, once and for all.
Sepp Blatter ignited something in Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored his second hat trick in 11 days in the La Liga, beating Real Sociedad 5-1. He has scored 16 league goals so far this season, doubling the production of Lionel Messi, not to mention so far sitting on 25 goals in 18 matches including the Champions League, where he has scored in every match so far, equaling Filippo Inzaghi’s record from the 2002-2003 season, scoring 8 goals in 4 matches to open the season.
Blatter talking in a private event about Messi being better than Ronaldo and making fun of Ronaldo’s pompous look did get a few ridiculous reactions, as if these were serious offenses and insults against Real Madrid and Portugal, but beyond the childish reaction, Cristiano Ronaldo is simply answering on the pitch.
Since losing to Barcelona in the Clasico, Real Madrid have won three consecutive league matches by a combined score of 15-6. Ronaldo has two hat tricks in these wins, and their 5-1 over Sociedad was probably the first complete performance we’ve seen this season from Real Madrid, without any drop in ability that somehow threatened their win at any stage.
According to Ronaldo, he doesn’t care about the Ballon d’Or, but we know that’s not true. He says all he wants to do is answer his critics on the pitch, which is pretty much what he’s doing. Is it the best form of his life? Ronaldo has these scoring tears once in a while, but they usually end up with Real Madrid doing nothing in the end. No matter how many more goals he scores than Lionel Messi from now until the votes are cast, the perception of Real Madrid being an inferior side to Barcelona and Bayern Munich will deny Ronaldo that award he wants to win so much.