Monday, 11 August 2014

If Messi is the best on the planet, Ronaldo is the best in the universe. If you are going to give out the Ballon d'Or because a player is the best, give it to Cristiano or Messi. But I ask: if the two are on the same level, is it normal that one wins four and the other one? It is not.
— José Mourinho, when asked about the 2012 Ballon d'Or.[127]
On 11 November, in a 2–1 away win over Levante, Ronaldo received an elbow to the eye in the second minute in the match, but scored his twelfth La Liga goal to give Madrid the lead, before being substituted at half-time.[128] This eventually led to him missing the Portugal squad for the friendly game against Gabon.[129] On 21 November, he appeared in Madrid's 1–1 Champions League group stage draw with Manchester City at theEtihad Stadium. The match represented the first time that Ronaldo played in Manchester since leaving City's rival, Manchester United, for Madrid in 2009. On 1 December, after not scoring in his previous three games, Ronaldo scored a goal from a free kick and assisted Özil to score the second goal in a 2–0 victory overAtlético Madrid.On 6 January, following the 2012–13 winter break, Ronaldo scored a brace to lift 10-man Real Madrid to a 4–3 victory over Real Sociedad. The match represented the first time that Ronaldo captained Real Madrid in an official match,[130] but received his fifth yellow card of the season and was suspended for the team's next league game at Osasuna serving a one-game ban. This was the first time Ronaldo was suspended for an accumulation of yellow cards, having only previously missed games when being given a straight red card.[131] On 7 January, he was second in the 2012 FIFA Ballon d'Or, for the fourth time behind Lionel Messi.[132] On 9 January, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick against Celta Vigo in the second leg of a Copa del Rey game.[133]Following a first leg victory over Valencia in the Copa del Rey on 15 January, Ronaldo got into an argument with manager José Mourinho.[134][135] On 27 January, Ronaldo scored a perfect hat-trick against Getafe in a 4–0 win, including his 300th club goal.[136] On 30 January, against Barcelona in the Copa del Rey, Ronaldo made his 500th club appearances. He was the first non-Spanish to captain Real Madrid in a Clásico in the last 60 years.[

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