Cristiano Ronaldo was the man of the hour after his controversial hat-trick in the second leg took Real Madrid to an aggregate 6-3 win over Bayern Munich in their Champions League quarter-final at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on Tuesday.
In an engrossing match, Munich’s Arturo Vidal was controversially sent off in the 84th minute with the aggregate score level at 3-3. Then, Cristiano Ronaldo scored two goals, one of which which should definitely have been ruled offside while the other was marginal, to give Real the win, leading to outrage and condemnation on Twitter.
Ronaldo's two goals were offside. Ooops pic.twitter.com/3w4m4OAlzA
— GeniusFootball (@GeniusFootball) April 18, 2017
Barcelona defender Gerard Pique left no one guessing about what he was trying to say with his rather cryptic tweet.
...
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) April 18, 2017
But Crystal Palace’s Papa Souare immediately responded to Pique, reminding him of the Barcelona-Chelsea semi-final in 2009 where the Catalan giants progressed amidst similar refereeing controversy.
Gerard Pique has just got ruined by Crystal Palace left back Pape Souare. 😂 pic.twitter.com/1RoLGwuGSJ
— Football Trolls (@Footballltrolls) April 18, 2017
Others fumed at the sheer injustice of it all:
Vidal wrongly sent off, Ronaldo 2nd goal miles offside.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) April 18, 2017
Bayern have been robbed if they lose this. #RMAFCB
How I see Ronaldo when he scores a deserved hat trick versus how I see him when he scores one legit goal and two offside goals pic.twitter.com/Zdvfah3bD2
— Roger Gonzalez (@RGonzalezCBS) April 18, 2017
Even Bayern’s official English Twitter handle was annoyed!
Ronaldo. Fed up of writing his name in this tie. (105') #RMAFCB 2-2
— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) April 18, 2017
I think it's fair to compare Ronaldo with Pele because both of them played without the offside rule.
— robin (@RobinXVl) April 18, 2017
There were some who entered the fray to defend the Portuguese superstar.
Offside or not. You cant deny Ronaldo turns up for big games 😂😂...like I cant respect your football opinion if you genuinely think he doesnt
— ᒪ3ahpar (@l3ahpar) April 18, 2017
Criticise him all you want (I do too), offside or not. #Ronaldo gets the job done. Doing the business again.. ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️ goals v Bayern: #UCL
— Brendon Netto (@BrendonNetto) April 18, 2017
Of course, the verdict was unanimous:
Man of the match pic.twitter.com/ftVtTogfLz
— Football Funnys (@FootballFunnys) April 18, 2017