On Saturday he made the difference yet again with two goals to help Real Madrid secure a third Champions League title in four years as they crushed Juventus 4-1 in a riveting final.
Having battled to break down one of Europe's meanest defences in the quarter-finals, Real Madrid will have to do it all over again when they face Juventus in their Champions League semi-final.
Gonzalo Higuain pulled one back three minutes later with a typically opportunist goal, the Argentine's 13th in the league this season, to set up a tense final half hour.
Arturo Vidal's double helped Juventus to their 12th straight league win with a 4-2 triumph over Sampdoria and saw the Italian champions restore an eight-point lead at the top of Serie A.
Champions Juventus returned to the top of Serie A with a 4-0 home rout of Cagliari on Wednesday, while former leaders Napoli dropped to second after being held to a goalless draw at Genoa.
La Liga champions Barcelona began the new campaign with a 3-0 win over Alaves on Saturday with the help of a spectacular under-the-wall free kick from Lionel Messi, who scored twice, and a curling shot from substitute Philippe Coutinho.
Germany's younger generation can rightfully feel they are the ones to be trusted when the world champions line up for a Euro 2016 semi-final next week after they stood up to be counted in the country's first tournament victory over Italy on Saturday.
Giorgio Chiellini's assertion that Tottenham Hotspur 'always miss something to arrive at the end' would have chiselled deep into a nerve for fans of the north London club.
Real Madrid's French duo Karim Benzema and Ferland Mendy struck in the second half as the Spanish champions overcame an injury crisis to beat Getafe 2-0 at home on Tuesday and close the gap to La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid to five points.
Two brilliant strikes from Isco and a late goal from Alvaro Morata gave Spain a spectacular 3-0 win over Italy, their nearest challengers in Group G, to move into the driving seat for automatic qualification to the 2018 World Cup.
Spain fullback Mario Gaspar scored with a stunning volley and midfielder Santi Cazorla added a late goal as the European champions handed England a chastening 2-0 defeat in a friendly between the continental heavyweights on Friday.
Javier Ceppi, Tournament Director of the 2017 Under-17 football World Cup, which India will host, says the success of the event depends on the country's fans. Laxmi Negi reports.
Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved a penalty and Andrea Pirlo curled in a trademark free kick late in the game to give the Serie A leaders a dramatic 1-0 win at Genoa on Sunday.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring as Juventus beat visiting Bologna 2-1 on Saturday to move four points clear at the top of the Serie A table. Ronaldo struck from close range after 19 minutes, but Danilo levelled for the visitors soon afterwards.
Mario Balotelli headed the decisive goal as Italy emerged 2-1 winners over England in another high quality World Cup match in the Amazon jungle on Saturday, to gain a key early advantage in a Group D containing three former tournament winners.
A superbly-executed strategy by coach Antonio Conte helped Italy to a deserved 2-0 win over Belgium in their Euro 2016 opener with outstanding goals by Emanuele Giaccherini and Graziano Pelle on Monday.
A round-up of the top-flight football matches played across Italy and Germany on Sunday
After qualifying for the 2014 World Cup with two games to spare everything looked positive for Italy but doubts are creeping in after two poor displays mean they are set to miss out on a place among the top seeds in Brazil.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Aritz Aduriz scored his first goal for Spain at the age of 35 to give the European champions a fortuitous 1-1 draw away to Italy in a Euro 2016 warm-up for both teams on Thursday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City suffered from deja vu as Luis Suarez's double gave Barcelona a 2-1 first leg lead in a Champions League last 16 tie at the Etihad although Lionel Messi's late penalty miss left the door ajar on Tuesday.
Croatia, helped by a mistake by veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, held Italy to a 1-1 away draw on Sunday, but their evening was ruined by their fans who twice interrupted play by throwing flares onto the pitch.
Karim Benzema came off the bench to score 13 minutes from time and ruin any chance of a dream result for resilient Ludogorets as holders Real Madrid carved out a patchy 2-1 win in Wednesday's Champions League Group B match.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Zlatan Ibrahimovic bagging four goals, while Juventus and Bayern Munich preserved their leads and FA Cup holders Arsenal were dumped out of the competition.
From heroes to zeros and back again, Leicester City's remarkable rollercoaster ride took another twist as a superb 2-0 victory over Sevilla put them in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on Tuesday.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Manchester City advanced to the Champions League quarter-finals despite suffering their first home loss in over a year, going through 5-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 defeat by Swiss champions Basel on Wednesday.
Images from football matches played in the La Liga, Serie A and Bundesliga on Saturday.
Second half goals from Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappe gave the impressive French side a clear advantage ahead of the return in Paris on March 6.
Images from Champions League matches played across Europe on Tuesday
This and more from the happenings in the world of football.
This and more from the happenings in the world of football
Photos from the UEFA Champions League matches played across Europe on Wednesday
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
A summary of Wednesday's matches in the UEFA Champions League.
Valverde said he was concerned about the team's away form after they were comprehensively beaten 2-0 by promoted Granada
The Portuguese forward then fired in the penalty in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
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