Ronaldo at 50: Revisiting the Real Madrid hat-trick that earned Old Trafford ovation

Ronaldo Nazario turns 50 having won two Ballons d'Or and two World Cups, but one of the clearest demonstrations of the Brazilian's extraordinary status came on an April night in 2003 when even Manchester United supporters stood to applaud the man who had just ended their Champions League hopes.

The setting was Old Trafford, the occasion a Champions League quarter-final second leg against Real Madrid.

United were already facing an uphill task after losing 3-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, but Sir Alex Ferguson's side still believed another famous European comeback was possible.

The Brazil striker scored a hat-trick in one of the competition's most memorable individual performances, helping Madrid survive a 4-3 defeat on the night and progress 6-5 on aggregate.

Yet the most enduring image did not come from any of his three finishes.

It came when Ronaldo was substituted and thousands of United supporters rose to applaud an opposition player who had effectively eliminated their team.

Ronaldo needed only 12 minutes to make his first intervention.

Receiving the ball on the right side of the penalty area, he finished beyond Fabien Barthez to give Madrid an away goal and leave United requiring an increasingly improbable comeback.

Ruud van Nistelrooy equalised before half time, but Ronaldo struck again shortly after the interval.

His second was a classic centre-forward goal, finishing a flowing Madrid move from close range before an own goal from Ivan Helguera briefly restored United's hopes.

Then came the moment which effectively settled the tie.

Ronaldo collected possession outside the penalty area and unleashed a powerful long-range shot beyond Barthez to complete his hat-trick.

The goal displayed another side of the Brazilian's game.

Ronaldo is often remembered for his acceleration, ability to beat defenders at speed and tendency to round goalkeepers, but at Old Trafford he demonstrated that he could punish opponents without needing to enter the penalty area.

David Beckham came off the bench and scored twice as Ferguson's side eventually won 4-3, but the damage inflicted by Ronaldo was already too great.

Madrid progressed by a single goal on aggregate, in a tie which remains one of the most memorable meetings between Real Madrid and Manchester United.

For Ronaldo, the performance was particularly significant because it came less than a year after his remarkable comeback at the 2002 World Cup.

Severe knee injuries had previously threatened his career, but he had responded by scoring eight goals for Brazil in Japan and South Korea, including both goals in the final against Germany. That tournament restored him to the very top of the game.

By the time he arrived at Old Trafford with Madrid the following spring, the explosive striker who had terrified defenders at Barcelona and Inter Milan had returned.

Standing ovations for opposition players are rare at any major stadium.

They are even more unusual when that player has just ended the home team's European campaign.

That was what made Ronaldo's reception so striking.

As he left the pitch, the Old Trafford crowd recognised that they had witnessed a performance which transcended the result.

United supporters were frustrated by elimination, but there was also an appreciation of the quality required to produce three goals in a Champions League quarter-final at one of Europe's most intimidating grounds.

Ronaldo would later remember that ovation as one of the special moments of his career.

It also earned praise from the United camp.

Ferguson's side knew exactly where Madrid's greatest attacking threat would come from and still proved unable to contain him, while Beckham later recalled just how destructive Ronaldo had been that evening.

The performance has endured because it captured so many of the qualities which made Ronaldo unique.

There was intelligent movement for the first goal, penalty-box instinct for the second and devastating technique for the third.

It was also a reminder of how different his career might have been without the injuries which repeatedly interrupted his peak years.

Ronaldo still finished with an extraordinary collection of achievements.

He won the Ballon d'Or in 1997 and 2002, lifted the World Cup twice with Brazil and represented Barcelona, Inter and Real Madrid during a career in which he helped redefine expectations of a modern centre-forward.

His World Cup legacy alone places him among the competition's greatest ever players.

But statistics alone do not fully explain why he became known simply as O Fenomeno.

The reaction at Old Trafford perhaps does.

On a night when Manchester United had every reason to resent him, their supporters instead stood to applaud.

Twenty-three years later, as Ronaldo turns 50, few moments better illustrate the impression he left on those who watched him at his best.

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