Cristiano Ronaldo scored numerous iconic Champions League goals – but his stunner against Porto in particular stunned Graeme Souness.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner emerged as one of the best talents in world football during his first spell at Manchester United.
Ronaldo scored a memorable long-range goal away at Porto in 2009AFP
Sir Alex Ferguson‘s reigning Champions League winners were drawn against Porto in the quarter-finals of the 2008/09 season.
Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez scored for United in a first leg 2-2 draw at Old Trafford, with the Estadio do Dragao hosting the second tie.
The away goals rule meant Porto had the advantage ahead of kick-off at their home ground, but their run was ended by a wonder goal.
With only six minutes on the clock, Ronaldo was found near the edge of the centre circle by his United teammate Anderson.
He took two touches when turning towards goal before firing a shot that flew past Porto goalkeeper Helton from an incredible distance into the top left corner.
Ronaldo sparked fittingly wild celebrations both on the pitch and in the United dugout, with Liverpool legend Souness left in awe of what he’d just seen.
“He receives the ball in a nice area, but you’re not thinking… no-one’s thinking he’s going to hit it from there,” he said on Sky Sports’ half-time coverage.
“I just don’t know how far out that is,” he added with a chuckle. “The ball, I mean it’s side net. So the first thought is, ‘The goalie’s got to do better,’ because it’s so far out.
“But when you see it like that, the ball is striking the side net, it’s a ridiculous strike, there’s very few people that would attempt that.”
When he discovered the goal was scored from just shy of a whopping 40 yards out, Souness further praised the quality of Ronaldo’s effort.
Ronaldo was around 40 yards away from goal, but still tried his luck@ChampionsLeague X
His shot flew into the back of the net to stun Porto@ChampionsLeague X
His outrageous strike was one of 140 goals he scored in the Champions LeagueAFP
Souness was left stunned by the audacious attemptGetty
“You could line that up on any training ground and give the ball to the best players and say, ‘Right, try and beat the goalkeeper from 40 yards.’ No one would do it.”
Ronaldo’s amazing long-ranger was just one of his record 140 goals he scored in the Champions League, an all-time competition record.
He scored 21 of them for United, with a mammoth 105 coming at Real Madrid and the other 14 with Juventus.
The goal against Porto was enough to send United through to the semi-finals where they beat Arsenal 4-1 on aggregate, but they lost 2-0 in the final against Barcelona.
United return to the Estadio do Dragao on Thursday night to face Porto in the Europa League league phase, live on talkSPORT.
Erik ten Hag‘s side will arrive off the back of their dismal 3-0 loss at home to Tottenham, with fans hoping one of their players can score a goal similar to Ronaldo’s 15 years ago to inspire them to victory.
