Ronaldo 'never expected' to reach historic century of European goals

Cristiano Ronaldo expressed his pride at having scored 100 goals in Europe - a feat that earned a special gift from Florentino Perez.

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo said he never expected to become the first player to score 100 goals in UEFA club competition.

The 32-year-old reached the milestone thanks to a double in the 2-1 win over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday.

Ronaldo was presented with a commemorative shirt by club president Florentino Perez after setting the latest record in his illustrious career.

And the former Manchester United forward feels honoured by the achievement, telling Madrid's official website: "It's a very big honour to score 100 goals in Europe. It was a special day with a really important victory. I'm very happy.

"I'm grateful to Real Madrid for the opportunity to have a brilliant career at this club, and also to my team-mates.

"When I started scoring goals in the Champions League I never thought I would break this record. It's an honour for me because it's a very difficult number. I'm delighted."

Ronaldo struck twice in the second half to secure the valuable victory after Bayern had led through Arturo Vidal, who also missed a penalty at the end of the first period.

The Portugal captain felt that miss proved to be something of a catalyst for Madrid's comeback, which was aided by Javi Martinez's second-half dismissal.

"I thought it was going to be a tough game before I went out onto the pitch and Bayern started the game really strong," he said. "But after they missed the penalty, we knew that the team would be lifted and the second half was ours.

"I can describe the goals in a simple way: exciting. That's because we were losing and it was tough to come back.

"We did it again and after scoring the two goals I was really happy because I helped Real Madrid to win. Hopefully there'll be another double at the [Santiago] Bernabeu."

Madrid faces Sporting Gijon in La Liga on Saturday before hosting Bayern and Barcelona in what could prove to be a crucial week of its season.

But Ronaldo - who admitted on Wednesday that he has altered his training programme to reduce the risk of injury - is confident that the entire squad is ready for the run-in.

"We have an advantage and I hope the fans are with us and will help us because it'll be a tough battle. Hopefully Real Madrid win and reach the semifinals," he said.

"We know that April is a difficult month, a decisive one, and the team looks good. The boss has done a great job with rotations and we're ready for the final stretch."