TURIN: Cristiano Ronaldo has thanked Juventus fans for their generous applause for his overhead bicycle kick which helped Real Madrid gain a three-goal advantage over the Italians in the Champions League.
"For me it was an unbelievable moment," said Ronaldo, who scored two goals in the two-time holders' 3-0 Champions League quarter-final, first-leg win in Turin.
Ronaldo's first was within three minutes while the second, on 64 minutes, was worthy of a video game to give Real a 2-0 lead before Paulo Dybala was sent off and Marcelo added a third at the Juventus Stadium.
"I have to say thank you a lot – grazie – to all the Juventus supporters. What they did for me was amazing," Ronaldo told UEFA.com, having taken his goal tally against the Italian champions to nine in six games.
"It (ovation by rival fans) had never happened to me in my career before."
Juventus shares fell by nearly five percent on Thursday as the Turin club's hopes of reaching the last four were severely compromised going into the second leg in Madrid on April 11.
"It was a great goal, fantastic," said the 33-year-old who became the first player to score in 10 successive Champions League games, with his tally 14 goals this season and 119 in total.
"Step by step," he warned of talk about a third straight Champions League title.
"I think we should think about the second leg. Anything is possible in football, so let's think about that second leg and let's see what happens."