Cristiano Ronaldo continues incredible Champions League goal run with double in Real Madrid win

Real Madrid's forward from Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after scoring on a penalty kick during the UEFA Champions League football match Real Madrid CF vs APOEL FC 
Credit: AFP/Getty Images

An imperious Cristiano Ronaldo struck twice on his first competitive start of the season as Real Madrid beat APOEL Nicosia 3-0 on Wednesday to get their quest for a third successive Champions League crown off on the right note.

Ronaldo has been banned from domestic football since August for pushing a referee and only needed 12 minutes to get back amongst the goals in the competition where he is the all-time top scorer, meeting Gareth Bale's low cross to arrow home.

The Portuguese struck the underside of the crossbar early in the second half then moments later hit his 109th Champions League goal by powering home from the spot after APOEL's Spanish defender Roberto Lago was harshly penalised for handball.

Captain Sergio Ramos rubber-stamped what was a routine victory for Madrid over the Cypriot champions with a scrappy overhead kick in the 61st minute.

Ramos also scored for Real Madrid in a comfortable win
Ramos also scored for Real Madrid in a comfortable win Credit: Getty Images Europe

Ronaldo was denied another penalty and a potential hat-trick when he was tripped in the area but his appeals went unnoticed, while late in the game he had a goal chalked off for a clear offside.

Elsewhere, Shakhtar Donetsk stunned Serie A's Napoli with goals either side of half-time to win 2-1 in their Champions League Group F match on Wednesday.

Brazil's Taison put the Ukrainian champions up 1-0 on the quarter-hour mark by controlling a backheel flick by Facundo Ferreyra on the edge of the box before beating goalkeeper Pepe Reina with a low drive.

In the 58th minute Reina misread a curling cross by Taras Stepanenko from the left that connected with Ferreyra, who tapped in the ball for Shakhtar's second goal.

Napoli failed to capitalise on their chances after Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik scored in the 72nd minute from a penalty awarded for a foul on Dries Mertens.

How the night unfolded:

 

                                                                                                    

RB Leipzig are dominating the ball so far

RB Leipzig are letting the ball do the work - they've had 287 touches compared to just 197 for Monaco.

Full time: Porto 1-3 Besiktas

The final whistle blows at Estádio do Dragão.

Average touch positions (full time)

Average touch positions (full time)

Full time: RB Leipzig 1-1 Monaco

It's all over at Red Bull Arena.

Full time: Shakhtar 2-1 Napoli

The final whistle blows at Metalist Stadium.

Full time: Madrid 3-0 APOEL Nicosia

The referee has seen enough at Santiago Bernabéu and blows the final whistle.

Average touch positions (full time)

Average touch positions (full time)

Full time: Maribor 1-1 Spartak Moscow

The final whistle blows at Ljudski vrt.

Average touch positions (full time)

Full time: Feyenoord 0-4 Man City

The final whistle blows at De Kuip.

Average touch positions (full time)

GOAL!

A goal from Ryan Babel for Besiktas makes the score 1-3.

GOAL!

Damjan Bohar pops up with a late equaliser for Maribor - it's 1-1.

GOAL!

Just one goal in it now - Napoli halve the deficit thanks to a goal from Arkadiusz Milik.

GOAL!

A goal from John Stones for Man City makes the score 0-4.

GOAL!

Sergio Ramos has put Madrid into a commanding 3-0 lead.

GOAL!

Aleksandr Samedov finally gets the breakthrough for Spartak Moscow - it's 0-1.

GOAL!

Facundo Ferreyra adds a second for Shakhtar - it's now 2-0!

One-way traffic at Santiago Bernabéu

It's been all Madrid, with the hosts racking up 15 shots so far - APOEL Nicosia have managed just three in reply.

GOAL!

Madrid have doubled their lead, and it's Cristiano Ronaldo with the goal to make it 2-0.

Second half: Porto 1-2 Besiktas

The action restarts at Estádio do Dragão.

Second half: Madrid 1-0 APOEL Nicosia

The action restarts at Santiago Bernabéu.

Second half: Maribor 0-0 Spartak Moscow

The second 45 has begun at Ljudski vrt.

Second half: RB Leipzig 1-1 Monaco

We're back under way at Red Bull Arena.

Second half: Feyenoord 0-3 Man City

The second 45 has begun at De Kuip.

Second half: Shakhtar 1-0 Napoli

The second 45 has begun at Metalist Stadium.

Half time: Maribor 0-0 Spartak Moscow

The first 45 minutes is up at Ljudski vrt.

Average touch positions (half time)

Average touch positions (half time)

Half time: Madrid 1-0 APOEL Nicosia

The first 45 minutes is up at Santiago Bernabéu.

Half time: Porto 1-2 Besiktas

The first 45 minutes is up at Estádio do Dragão.

Average touch positions (half time)

Half time: RB Leipzig 1-1 Monaco

The first 45 minutes is up at Red Bull Arena.

Average touch positions (half time)

Half time: Shakhtar 1-0 Napoli

The teams head in at the break at Metalist Stadium.

Average touch positions (half time)

Half time: Feyenoord 0-3 Man City

The first 45 minutes is up at De Kuip.

Average touch positions (half time)

The shot count is similar

RB Leipzig and Monaco have both attempted three shots each.

The shot count is similar

Maribor and Spartak Moscow are evenly matched in attack so far - the home side have fired in ten shots to the visitors' ten.

Man City defence unworried so far

Feyenoord have not been posing a threat in the final third.

Madrid well on top so far

The home side are starting to cause problems in and around the APOEL Nicosia penalty area.

The Spartak Moscow backline looking comfortable so far

The Maribor attack haven't been able to threaten the visitors in the final third.

GOAL!

Monaco level it up with a goal from Youri Tielemans: it's 1-1.

GOAL!

Emil Forsberg scores for RB Leipzig to make it 1-0!

Neither side taking control of the game yet

Spartak Moscow enjoying slightly more of the ball, with 227 touches to 200 from Maribor.

GOAL!

Besiktas are back in front again - Cenk Tosun makes it 1-2.

GOAL!

It's cruise control for Man City now! Gabriel Jesus makes it 0-3.

RB Leipzig threaten for the first time

Following the earlier Monaco effort, RB Leipzig register their first attempt at goal.

OWN GOAL!

Calamity for Dusko Tosic, who puts the ball past his own goalkeeper to make it 1-1.

Madrid enjoying plenty of touches of the ball so far.

Madrid have had 163 touches of the ball compared to 73 by APOEL Nicosia.

Neither RB Leipzig or Monaco are testing the goalkeepers so far

Not much to do for either keeper at Red Bull Arena - RB Leipzig and Monaco keeping each other at bay.

GOAL!

Shakhtar take an early lead and they have Taison to thank for it: 1-0.

Feyenoord respond

The hosts have their first shot of the game, in reply to three so far from Man City.

GOAL!

Anderson Talisca strikes early to open the scoring - it's 0-1 to Besiktas.

GOAL!

An early opener from Cristiano Ronaldo makes it 1-0 to Madrid.

GOAL!

Man City have doubled their lead, and it's Sergio Agüero with the goal to make it 0-2.

APOEL Nicosia threaten for the first time

Following the earlier Madrid effort, APOEL Nicosia register their first attempt at goal.

Man City are dominating the ball so far

Man City are making the hosts do the chasing - they've had 131 touches of the ball compared to just 41 for Feyenoord.

Napoli threaten for the first time

Following the earlier Shakhtar effort, Napoli register their first attempt at goal.

Spartak Moscow respond

The visitors have their first shot of the game, in reply to two so far from Maribor.

Besiktas have their first sight of goal

Besiktas respond to the earlier Porto effort with their first shot of the game.

GOAL!

An early opener from John Stones makes it 0-1 to Man City.

Kick off: RB Leipzig vs Monaco

We're under way at Red Bull Arena.

Kick off: Shakhtar vs Napoli

They're off and running at Metalist Stadium.

Kick off: Feyenoord vs Man City

They're off and running at De Kuip.

Kick off: Porto vs Besiktas

The action gets started at Estádio do Dragão.

Kick off: Madrid vs APOEL Nicosia

We're under way at Santiago Bernabéu.

Kick off: Maribor vs Spartak Moscow

They're off and running at Ljudski vrt.

Man City team news: Ederson starts after horror injury

Ederson starts for Man City tonight after the face injury he received from a challenge form Liverpool's Sadio Mane on Saturday.

Here's the rest of the line-up.

 

Marcelo extends his Real Madrid deal

Spanish and European champions Real Madrid announced a two-year contract extension for Brazilian left back Marcelo on Wednesday, hours after the player's appeal against a domestic suspension was rejected.

Now in his 12th season at Real, Marcelo is the second longest serving player after captain Sergio Ramos, having joined the Spanish giants from Brazilian side Fluminense aged 18 back in January 2007, and is the longest serving foreign player in the club's history.

Credit: Real Madrid via Getty Images

Real said on their website that they had agreed to extend the player's contract, originally due to expire in 2020, by two years.

Real Madrid preview

One title defence has begun shakily for Real Madrid. Two won't be tolerated.

While Cristiano Ronaldo has been suspended for pushing a referee, Madrid has made a relatively poor start to retaining the Spanish league title, lying four points behind Barcelona after three rounds.

Ronaldo is still suspended for one more La Liga match, but he's cleared to play in Europe, and will feature in their Champions League opener on Wednesday against APOEL of Greece.

"Cristiano is well and focused," Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said on Tuesday. "He is a leader and always wants to win. The other players feed off of him."

Ronaldo's absence probably would not have been felt so much a year ago, when Madrid had not only forwards Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale, but also Alvaro Morata and Mariano Diaz backing up.

But in the offseason Morata was lost to Chelsea, where he has three goals already, and Diaz transferred to Lyon. To cover for their departures, Madrid promoted 20-year-old Borja Mayoral from the youth squads.

"Maybe you can say that we are missing a 9," Zidane said. "It would have been nice to have kept Morata, but we have to understand that he wanted to play more minutes and decided to leave. It turned out that we couldn't add another player and that's it."

Mayoral has a chance of starting in the team's Champions League opener because Benzema has already been ruled out due to a muscle injury in his right leg.

"I have a lot of faith in Mayoral, he is young and eager to play," Zidane said. "We also have Karim and Gareth. We will get through with the players we have and everything will be all right, I'm sure of that."

License this content