09:41:00
Cristiano Ronaldo said: ‘This season I was the No 1 in the team, again, for most minutes. I have more than 4,000. That means a lot to me. It means I am still good, I still feel good physically, mentally. I was the top scorer in this competition again (with 16 goals).
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to hit the heights Real Madrid - who paraded the trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night - have become accustomed to during an attritional Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in the San Siro, but still had the final kick of the game.
Ronaldo was poor for much of the 120 minutes, missing a clear-cut headed chance as well as a one-on-one, but took responsibility of converting the match-winning penalty in the shootout and afterwards rejected suggestions that his age, 31, may be creeping up on him.
Ronaldo said: ‘This season I was the No 1 in the team, again, for most minutes. I have more than 4,000. That means a lot to me. It means I am still good, I still feel good physically, mentally. I was the top scorer in this competition again (with 16 goals).
‘If you ask me if I feel tired now, of course, I have a lot of minutes in the legs. But I am still there, I am always there. I showed the team I am there for the good moments and bad moments. This is what makes me feel proud.
‘My performance (in the final) is maybe not the best one but who played unbelievable? No one. So it’s tough, it’s the end of the season, you don’t have power in the legs that you have in the beginning of the season, but I did my best. I ran and we won. That is the most important.
‘To win my third Champions League is unbelievable.’
Ronaldo, who has two years left on his current contract, last week said Real would be making a ‘smart decision’ by offering him a new deal and made it clear he feels he has plenty more seasons in the tank.
Asked if he still has personal goals, he replied: ‘It is what it is, six years when I’m scoring more than 50 goals, but I am asking more. I am always in the top level. I just want to maintain. I still feel fresh and I want to carry on like that. I love to play for Real Madrid. I want to carry on.’
Ronaldo will take a six-day break to recharge before joining up with Portugal ahead of Euro 2016, so is scheduled to miss Thursday’s friendly against England.
He said his home nation would feel proud and happy of his club success as ‘the only Portuguese to win the Champions League three times’ but sounded a slightly sour note too.
‘Only the jealous don’t feel that,’ he said. ‘But I don’t care about that. I always keep the people who love me. So this Champions League is for them, the guys who support me all the time, my fans in Portugal and around the world.’
Ronaldo believes it is possible that Real can become the first team to retain the trophy in the Champions League era, but said future finals should be closer to the end of the league season.
There was a 14-day gap between Real’s final La Liga game and the encounter in Milan, which Ronaldo believes contributed to widespread cramp in extra-time. He said: ‘The break is a lot. I hope next year — or the coming years — they do it closer to the end of the league season.
‘As you see in the pitch everybody was tired and felt cramp in the legs. And it was very hot.
‘The penalties are always a lottery, you never know what is going to happen. But we showed we are the more experienced team.’ Ronaldo missed from the spot when Manchester United beat Chelsea on penalties in 2008 but had no doubts about stepping up again.
‘To be honest I was confident I would score,’ he said. ‘I saw (Zinedine) Zidane before the penalties and told him to put me as the last taker because I feel I am going to score the winning goal. This is what happened.’
The three-time Ballon d’Or winner failed to hit the heights Real Madrid - who paraded the trophy at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday night - have become accustomed to during an attritional Champions League final against Atletico Madrid in the San Siro, but still had the final kick of the game.
Ronaldo said: ‘This season I was the No 1 in the team, again, for most minutes. I have more than 4,000. That means a lot to me. It means I am still good, I still feel good physically, mentally. I was the top scorer in this competition again (with 16 goals).
‘If you ask me if I feel tired now, of course, I have a lot of minutes in the legs. But I am still there, I am always there. I showed the team I am there for the good moments and bad moments. This is what makes me feel proud.
‘My performance (in the final) is maybe not the best one but who played unbelievable? No one. So it’s tough, it’s the end of the season, you don’t have power in the legs that you have in the beginning of the season, but I did my best. I ran and we won. That is the most important.
‘To win my third Champions League is unbelievable.’
Ronaldo, who has two years left on his current contract, last week said Real would be making a ‘smart decision’ by offering him a new deal and made it clear he feels he has plenty more seasons in the tank.
Asked if he still has personal goals, he replied: ‘It is what it is, six years when I’m scoring more than 50 goals, but I am asking more. I am always in the top level. I just want to maintain. I still feel fresh and I want to carry on like that. I love to play for Real Madrid. I want to carry on.’
He said his home nation would feel proud and happy of his club success as ‘the only Portuguese to win the Champions League three times’ but sounded a slightly sour note too.
‘Only the jealous don’t feel that,’ he said. ‘But I don’t care about that. I always keep the people who love me. So this Champions League is for them, the guys who support me all the time, my fans in Portugal and around the world.’
Ronaldo believes it is possible that Real can become the first team to retain the trophy in the Champions League era, but said future finals should be closer to the end of the league season.
There was a 14-day gap between Real’s final La Liga game and the encounter in Milan, which Ronaldo believes contributed to widespread cramp in extra-time. He said: ‘The break is a lot. I hope next year — or the coming years — they do it closer to the end of the league season.
‘As you see in the pitch everybody was tired and felt cramp in the legs. And it was very hot.
‘To be honest I was confident I would score,’ he said. ‘I saw (Zinedine) Zidane before the penalties and told him to put me as the last taker because I feel I am going to score the winning goal. This is what happened.’
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