27 years since Ronaldo’s memorable hat-trick that brought down Valencia! Two copycat goals shock the world

26. on October 1996, a fairly ordinary Spanish La Liga match was played at the famous Camp Nou. The 20-year-old Ronaldo’s memorable hat-trick secured three points for home side Barcelona, but two copycat goals showed the football world a new king.

At just 20 years old, Ronaldo woke La Liga defenders from their dreams

At just twenty years old, he has become a nightmare for all defenders in Spain’s top football competition. He needed virtually no teammates on the offensive, and only needed the ball on his foot to break down an entire defence.

When PSV Eindhoven signed the then eighteen-year-old from Brazil, he probably had no idea how a precious stone would turn into a clear diamond. Despite suffering from a serious knee injury, he scored one goal after another in the Netherlands, so it’s no wonder European big clubs started to take an interest in him.

The fight for the young Brazilian was eventually won by the famous Barcelona and Ronaldo moved to the Iberian Peninsula. If anyone had any doubts that he would make it in manager Bobby Robson’s packed squad, O Fenômeno shattered them almost immediately.

In his opening nine La Liga games, he recorded an incredible tally of nine goals and four assists. In particular, his goal in the Compostela net left not only coach Robson speechless. It was no wonder that he became the cornerstone of the Blaugranas offensive right from the start of the season.

27 years ago, he showed the world the best version of himself when he scored a hat-trick to down Valencia

Barcelona, with their new offensive star, did not know the bitterness of defeat and topped the La Liga table. Then, in the tenth round, on 26 October 1996, they welcomed Valencia to the Camp Nou, and that evening the British manager sent the young Ronaldo onto the pitch. And he certainly did not regret his choice.

After just a quarter of an hour of the match, Ronaldo showed his magic to the full. He collided the ball with Luís Figo, slid it between two stoppers and jumped between them at incredible speed. He then kept his cool in the face of Andoni Zubizarreta and sent his team into the lead.

Although Valencia were at least an evenly matched opponent, Ronaldo constantly exploited the space behind the defensive line and threatened with his deadly movement. After one of the counter attacks, Figo sent him on an independent run and the young Brazilian increased the score to 2: 0.

Anyone who thought it was a done deal would have been wrong. Valencia didn’t fold their arms and after an hour of play the game was level. In the 52nd minute, Patxi Ferreira reduced the gap to a single goal after a beautiful header. Only minutes later, Valeriy Karpin equalised with a left-footed shot.

Although the match was even, the forces on the field were clearly distributed. The home side Barcelona had one huge advantage. Ronaldo was simply unstoppable that night.

The 74th minute of the match only underlined this thesis. Ronaldo scooped up the ball just outside the centre circle, didn’t tackle the entire defence standing in front of him, but headed it straight between the withdrawing stoppers, who, although pinching him between them, couldn’t stop the Brazilian’s formula, which decided the fate of the match. An unforgettable footballing moment.

The combination of physical strength, dynamism and technical refinement characterised the biggest star in world football that night. At just 20 years old, he became a real terror for the whole of Spain, waking opposing defenders from their dreams.

In that season, Ronaldo scored an impressive 47 goals in 49 matches in all competitions in the blue and red jersey. He was then the youngest player in history to win the FIFA World Player of the Year award. But then he moved to Inter Milan and began to write the next chapter of his rich career.

Source: La Liga, Transfermarkt, Twitter / X