15th of January 2015. This is the date of the last appearance of Cristiano Ronaldo in Copa del Rey. It was at Santiago Bernabéu, where Carlo Ancelotti’s side drew 2-2 in the second leg of the quarter-finals round, meaning the knocked-out of the competition because Los Blancos lost 2-0 at Vicente Calderón in the first leg.
Now, Zinedine Zidane has decided to include in the list to face Celta de Vigo Cristiano Ronaldo. (Learn here how to watch Real Madrid v Celta de Vigo in live streaming). The Portuguese missed the first round against Cultural Leonesa and the Last 16 round against Sevilla. The final is closer and Zizou has decided to count on Cristiano Ronaldo. However, the manager didn’t say in press conference whether Cristiano Ronaldo will start the game or not.
Last season, Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t play Copa del Rey because Los Blancos were disqualified for putting in the field Denis Cheryshev against Cádiz, and the winger was suspended with his former club Villarreal. Therefore, Cristiano hasn’t played in this competition in the last two years.
One of his best memories wearing the white t-shirt is in Copa del Rey. In the middle of a tough war between Mourinho’s Real Madrid and Guardiola’s Barcelona, both giants met in the final of 2011. Cristiano Ronaldo had scored 6 goals in the competition before facing the Catalan club in Valencia. Real Madrid won the title in the extra time thanks to a great header from Cristiano Ronaldo. It was his first title with Real Madrid.
Cristiano Ronaldo also won another Copa del Rey in 2014 with Real Madrid but he missed the final against Barcelona again in Valencia. Gareth Bale was the protagonist scoring the winner in that game, but the Portuguese was very important as he scored three goals, including two goals at Vicente Calderón against Atlético de Madrid.
The bad memories in this competition are against Atlético de Madrid. Real Madrid lost the final in 2013 in their stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo scored 7 goals that year, including a net in the final. However, Atlético won and Cristiano was sent off in the extra time. It was Mourinho’s sad ending at Real Madrid. In that season, Cristiano also faced Celta de Vigo and he scored a hat-trick at Santiago Bernabéu.
Cristiano Ronaldo has played 18 games in Copa del Rey, scoring 21 goals. In this time, he won 2 titles and lost 1 final. With Manchester United he also won the FA Cup in 2004 and the League Cup in 2006 and 2009.
