Emmanuel Bonaventure scored twice and then shushed the Santiago Bernabeu crowd with a Cristiano Ronaldo celebration. And although Real Madrid fought back with two second-half goals to draw the Group A Champions League encounter against Club Brugge, they couldn’t steal the limelight from the 21-year-old Nigerian, who had nearly handed the Belgian side a famous victory over the 14-time European titleholders. “We’ve never had 45 minutes like that,” Real boss Zinedine Zidane would later say at the post-match conference reminiscing the humiliation his side went through after falling behind to a twin strike from the young Nigerian striker.

Two add insult to Real’s injury, Bonaventure went on to impersonate Ronaldo’s famous ‘siii’ celebration at a stadium the Portuguese legend had rocked for 10 illustrious years and in front of a crowd, still coming to terms with the absence of their talismanic star about 15 months since Ronaldo’s departure. “I was sad when he left Madrid and I celebrated my goals like that to show them (Real Madrid) that they lost something,” Bonaventure told RTL after the 2-2 draw. Cristiano Ronaldo Scores First Goal in UEFA Champions League 2019, Helps Juventus Register 3-0 Win Over Bayer Leverkusen.

Hey Real Madrid, Remember?

Bonaventure scored the first of his two goals in the ninth minute – the earliest goal ever scored by a Brugge player in the Champions League – smashing the ball past a diving Thibaut Courtois before stunning the Bernabeu crowd with a second in the 39th minute – from a sublime chip over Courtois – and following it with a celebration the Spanish capital is familiar with and had played host to many glorious years in the near past.

Bonaventure Does a Cristiano Ronaldo

Madrid did fight back eventually saving themselves from a bigger embarrassment with goals from Sergio Ramos and Casemiro. But Bonaventure’s goals, added to his mimicry of the iconic celebration, reminded many at the Santiago Bernabeu of the Ronaldo magic that could have made the difference on nights such as these. Ronaldo, who last season sealed a move to Serie A giants Juventus, has enjoyed huge success at the European stage winning numerous games for Real Madrid on his own. CR7 came into his own on such European nights and could have led Real to victory from the clutches of defeat.

“I like Cristiano and for me, he is the best player in the world,” said Bonaventure. “I was sad when he left Madrid and I celebrated my goals like that to show them that they lost something.” Despite coming back with a point after leading 2-0 at the half-stage, the 21-year-old said that a draw at the Bernabeu is always special.

"I am happy to have scored two goals, we really wanted to win the game and we were not far away, so we have to settle for a point, which is already a good result. “I think it was down to the effort of the whole team, it would not be fair to say that it is due to my two goals.”

Bonaventure was also asked his pre-match promise of getting tattoos if he managed to score against Real in their own backyard. The young forward from Nigeria replied, “I’ll have to get two then.” But later said that it was a joke.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 02, 2019 07:58 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).