Cristiano Ronaldo saluted another "fantastic" Real Madrid performance as
the European champions claimed a comprehensive 3-0 win at Liverpool.
Ronaldo himself was in scintillating form, opening the scoring in
their Champions League Group B encounter midway through the first half
with a tremendous half-volley finish from James Rodriguez's delightful
chip.
Surprisingly, it was the forward's first goal at Anfield and,
although he passed up several further chances to add to his tally, it
mattered little as Karim Benzema's brace had put the Spanish side three
goals ahead before half-time.
Carlo Ancelotti's men eased off in the second half, perhaps with their attention on Saturday's Clasico, but that did not take away from a memorable display for Ronaldo.
He told Sky Sports: "It was special. It was my first goal here, so I feel very proud for that. I feel happy. We win three points, so amazing.
"We knew before the game that Anfield is a difficult place, but I
think we played fantastic, especially in the first 45 minutes, and we
deserved to win.
"I'm happy because it's dedication and hard work, but the best thing
is that the team wins. We have nine points, so 75 percent of the
qualification is done.''
Real now have one foot in the knockout stages as they are six points
ahead of Liverpool, Basel and Ludogorets, and Ronaldo sees no reason why
they cannot become the first team to retain the Champions League.
"Why not? We're thinking step by step,'' he said. "We know that the
qualification is the priority of the team, but we're going to try, like
last year. We know it's going to be very tough, but we are positive and
it will be possible if we play like that.''
