Ronaldo 'always believed' he would beat Messi to 100 Champions League goals

Real Madrid talisman Cristiano Ronaldo “always believed” that he would be the first man to net 100 Champions League goals.

The Portuguese forward became a centurion during the second leg of a quarter-final clash with Bayern Munich – a game in which he netted a match-winning hat-trick.

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He followed up those efforts with another treble against Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals and now has 103 efforts to his name.

That return has him nine clear of his eternal rival at Barcelona, Lionel Messi, and Ronaldo claims he was never in any doubt that he would be the man to set another notable European record.

He told UEFA ahead of a Champions League final clash with Juventus: “I always believed I would be the first player in Champions League history to score 100 goals.

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“I did it. It was a goal that I set myself at the beginning of the season and, thanks to God, I achieved it.

“I would obviously like to thank all my team-mates, the coach, all the staff and all the Real Madrid fans.”

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While Ronaldo has been in remarkable form during the knockout stages of the 2016-17 Champions League, he is not the leading scorer in this season’s competition.

He still needs one more effort to draw level with Messi, with Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated encounter at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium offering him a final opportunity to add to his tally.

That contest will also present him with a chance to improve his collective haul of 40 for the season, with that mark now reached in seven successive campaigns.