Cristiano Ronaldo became the Champions League third all-time scorer as he powered Real Madrid towards the last-16 with a brace in the win over Juventus. Ronaldo’s first came when he rounded Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and finished superbly from a tight angle in the fourth minute at the Bernabeu.
Spain forward Fernando Llorente levelled for the visitors in the 22nd minute before the referee ruled Giorgio Chiellini had impeded Sergio Ramos in the penalty area at a free kick and Ronaldo put away the 29th-minute spot kick.
Italy centre back Chiellini had a night to forget as he was shown a straight red card three minutes into the second half when he checked Ronaldo's run down the right with a flailing arm and Juventus hardly threatened Real's goal for the rest of the game.
Ronaldo has now scored 57 goals in the competition and after his first half double has only Leo Messi on 62 and Raul on 71 ahead of him.
With Gareth Bale a second half subsitute Real made it three wins out of three and Ronaldo went past his old Manchester United foe Ruud van Nistelrooy in the all-time scoring list.
He now has seven in this season’s competition alone and his astonishing recent record runs to 28 goals in his last 22 games.
France striker Benzema turned in another disappointing performance as he missed from two yards out as Real Madrid tried to extend their lead and the Frenchman paid for his miss by being replaced by Bale who came through another 25 minutes and is on course to start Saturday’s Clasico - possibly at the Benzema's expense and with the unstoppable Ronaldo unleashed at centre-forward.
TOP CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SCORERS
| RANK | PLAYER | GOALS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Raul | 71 |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | 63 |
| 3 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 57 |
| 4 | Ruud van Nistelrooy | 56 |
| 5 | Thierry Henry | 50 |
The Welsh winger is looking forward to his first game against Barcelona and believes he is fit enough to start the game. Bale also praised Ronaldo for helping him settle in at Madrid.
He said: 'I am sure it will be an amazing experience, the most important thing is that we try and win the game and get the three points. I am looking forward to it.
'I have had a few minutes this week and had a good week’s training as well, I think I am fit enough but it is up to the manager whether I play from the start or am on the bench.
'He (Ronaldo) has been absolutely amazing with me, he has given me a lot of confidence. He has been in the position before so he has been great with me, everyone has been great in the changing room and I felt very settled straight away and I’m just looking forward to kicking on now.'
And Bale says he is not home sick and is enjoying life at his new club.
He added: 'I am enjoying everything about Real Madrid at the moment. Obviously it was disappointing getting the injury but that is behind me now and I just want to kick on and do the best for the team.'
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