Real Madrid’s passage through to the semi-finals of the Champions League was sealed with a comfortable 2-0 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side are attempting to win the competition for a record-extending 15th time, and are defending the title they won in 2022 after beating Liverpool 1-0 thanks to Vinicius Junior’s goal.
Their hero on Tuesday night in west London was 22-year-old winger Rodrygo, who scored a second half brace to extinguish any hope that Chelsea had of getting back into the tie.
It was the young Brazilian’s 14th and 15th UEFA Champions League goals – pretty impressive numbers for a young player who is only into his fourth season at the club – and sealed a 4-0 aggregate win for Los Blancos.
The goals themselves were relatively straightforward, but Rodrygo caused somewhat of a stir after he imitated Cristiano Ronaldo’s famous ‘Si’ celebration.
Speaking after the game about why he celebrated in that way, Rodrygo revealed that Ronaldo was his idol growing up and that his decision to replicate the celebration was a spur of the moment thing.
“When I scored, my immediate reaction was to think about doing one of those knee slides but I’ve got a slightly tender knee when I flex,” he said. “So it popped into my mind to copy my idol, Cristiano, and copy what he does.
“So it popped into my mind to copy my idol, Cristiano, and copy what he does.”
Ronaldo revealed in 2019 why he’d started using the celebration, but there’s actually very little meaning behind it. The Portuguese legend said: “I started to say ‘si’, it’s like ‘yes’, when I was in Real Madrid.
“When we would win, everyone would say ‘siiiii’ and so I started to say it. I don’t know why, it was natural. I was in the USA and we played against Chelsea and I don’t know where this is coming from, the celebration. I just scored the goal and it just came out. It was just natural, to be honest.
“Since that, I started to do it more often and I feel like the supporters and the fans see it and they’re like ‘Cristiano, siiiiiiuuuu’,” he said. “I’m like ‘wow! People are reminded of me because of it!’ So it’s good, and I’ll continue doing it like that.”
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Credit: 90min.com
