Revealed: Why Real Madrid's Rodrygo imitated Ronaldo's 'Siuuu' in Champions League win over Chelsea

Real Madrid will play Manchester City or Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League 2022-23 thanks to two goals from Rodrygo against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night. 

Even though the match was fiercely contested, Carlo Ancelotti's locker room was the one to celebrate qualification after registering a 4-0 aggregate win over the struggling Blues in the competition's quarter-final.

After scoring against Chelsea, Rodrygo mimicked Cristiano Ronaldo's celebration out of concern that his traditional style would cause an injury.

When the young Brazilian scored Real Madrid's opening goal in the quarter-final second leg at Stamford Bridge, he celebrated with the renowned "Siuuu" motion made famous by former Real Madrid legend Ronaldo.

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In a postgame interview, Rodrygo said that a knee injury had stopped him from sliding on the field, which spurred the spontaneous tribute to his "idol."

"When I scored, my immediate reaction was to think about doing one of those knee slides but I've got a slightly tender knee when I flex," Rodrygo told reporters. "So it popped into my mind to copy my idol, Cristiano, and copy what he does."

Rodrygo also explained what the Champions League meant to him and why scoring on such a significant occasion was so precious.

"I don't know how to explain it, but I always say it's a really special competition for me. Whenever I've played I've always managed to do something to help my team. I'm so happy, I hope I can keep going like this, scoring more goals, providing more assists and winning the Champions League again," Rodrygo said.

Rodrygo acknowledged that Real Madrid was under constant pressure to go far into the European competition and commented about the immense status associated with simply donning the club's white colours and crest.

"It's a pleasure to be playing for Real Madrid, the greatest team in the world, and we know that we're practically obliged to reach the semi-finals, the final and win the Champions League. Since we got here, we've had that in our heads," the Real Madrid star stated.

"We have to produce very good performances and I think we're doing that. Since I've been playing here we've come a long way in this competition and I hope we can continue like this," Rodrygo added.

The young man discussed the future and Thibaut Courtois' incredible save in the last seconds of the first half.

"They could've made it 1-0 in the first half, but Courtois was there to bail us out. I'm delighted with my brace and eager to keep up this pace. Now it's time for us to think about the semi-finals," Rodrygo added.

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Due to an accumulation of bookings, Eder Militao won't be available for the first leg of the semi-final in the UCL. Rodrygo discussed the implications of the Brazilian's absence in such a significant game.

"Militão won't play, but we have other very good players who can stand in for him. The Champions League is very tough. We can't choose our opponents and we have to be ready for anything," he said.

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• Champions League
• Real Madrid
• Chelsea
• Football
• Rodrygo