- Cristiano Ronaldo is leading Champions League scorer this season with 15 goals
- Jerome Boateng concerned about damage Ronaldo could do to Bayern Munich
- Ronaldo has impressive record of nine goals in six games against Bayern
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng has warned that his side won’t be able to completely limit the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo in their Champions League semi-final clash against Real Madrid.
Ronaldo has produced some outstanding performances in Europe this season and is the competition’s top scorer having found the net 15 times in just ten appearances.
Bayern host Real in the first leg on Wednesday and Boateng is all too aware of the considerable threat that Ronaldo will pose to his side.
Bayern Munich defender Jerome Boateng is worried about the threat of Cristiano Ronaldo
Boateng faces the unenviable task of attempting to thwart Ronaldo on Wednesday night
Boateng told Kicker: ‘We can only stop Cristiano Ronaldo as a team.
‘In front of goal, he’s like a machine. You can’t shut him out completely, he always gets his chances in a game because of the lines he runs and his excellent timing.
‘Real base their game around him and it’s important we give him as little room as possible.’
Ronaldo has an impressive record against Bayern having scored nine goals in his six games against the German club.
The Portugal forward’s clever movement, in addition to his excellent technique, makes him almost impossible to mark at times, but Boateng and his team-mates are determined to thwart him.
Boateng continued: ‘There is a no more complete striker than Ronaldo. Left foot, right foot, header – he is in perfect control of everything he does.
‘I went through only once against him with Bayern, but twice we have gone out.
‘He also has the best team-mates at Real. Shutting him out is only 50 per cent of it, the other players are simply too good for that at this level.’
Ronaldo is aiming to help Real to win the Champions League for the third year in a row
Having won the Champions League twice in a row, Real are eager to retain Europe’s elite club competition, but Bayern can still call upon some extremely talented players themselves and the outcome of the game isn’t a foregone conclusion.
Bayern have already won the Bundesliga this campaign and have the opportunity for further glory in the DFB-Pokal, having reached the final of that competition, where they will take on Eintracht Frankfurt.
Jupp Heynckes’ side warmed up for the Real game with a 3-0 victory over Hannover in the league on Saturday.
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