Claim: A TikTok post claims Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive winner for Real Madrid against Man City in a penalty shootout.
Verdict: False. DUBAWA’s investigation discovered that the TikTok video was edited. Real Madrid knocked out City in a penalty shootout only once in the 2023/2024 Champions League tournament, and Ronaldo was never part of that squad because the Portuguese left the club in 2018.
Full Text
Since the 2012/2013 season, Manchester City and Real Madrid have encountered each other 14 times. Of the 14 matches, Manchester City won four while Real Madrid won five, and both tied five times.
Against this backdrop, a TikTok user, @unreal.0.5 1-12, claims that former Real Madrid star and five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo scored the decisive winner from the spot kick for Spanish giants Real Madrid against Manchester City.
In the clip, Erling Haaland, Ruben Diaz, Savio Oliveira (Savinho), and Phil Foden slotted in perfectly for City as Luka Vazquez, Marcelo Vieira, Sergio Ramos, and Gareth Bale levelled for Los Blancos. But Bernardo Silver saw his effort bounce off the goalkeeper minutes before Ronaldo struck a winner for Real, making it 5-4.
As of Thursday, March 27, 2025, the post has earned 78,100 likes, 494 comments, and 1,900 shares.
DUBAWA observed that other users commented diversely about the post’s authenticity.
“Ronaldo will never lose,” Mivuyo asserted.
“Love it. Ronaldo will never lose,” Ekwunife2 commented.
“Edit,” Mati observed.
Due to the diverse replies to the post, DUBAWA decided to verify it.
Verification
DUBAWA checked the Champion’s League website for historical statistics between the two bitter rivals. We noticed that since their encounter in 2012/2013, Madrid has only knocked the English side via a penalty shootout once, which was in the 2023/2024 season.
However, Ronaldo stopped playing for Real Madrid at the end of the 2017/2018 season after a reported rift with the club’s president, Florentino Perez. This means Los Blancos has never won penalty shootouts in a Champions League knockout stage with the Portuguese.
Moreover, closely related to that, DUBAWA noticed from the TikTok video that Real Madrid legend and two-time best world club coach Zinedine Zidane was in charge of the Spanish side. Zidane managed Real Madrid in the 2015/2016, 2016/2017, and 2017/2018 seasons and returned in 2019.
However, according to the Champions League data, Zidane only encountered City twice as Real Madrid’s coach. In his first charge as manager in 2015/2016, he clashed with the Citizens in the semifinals and won 1-0 on aggregate in the second leg. He would face them again four years later in the 2019/2020 round-of-16 stage, where City trashed Real Madrid 1-2 in the first leg and 2-1 in the second leg. None of the matches went into penalty shootouts with Zidane in charge, contrary to what the TikTok clip shows.
We noticed several irregularities in the clip. One is that Norway international Haaland and Brazilian midfielder Savinho, purchased in 2022 and 2024, respectively, were playing against Ronaldo in a Real Madrid shirt when the Portuguese departed the Spanish club for Italian side Juventus in 2018.
Two, legendary defender Sergio Ramos departed Real Madrid in 2021, a year before Haaland started making appearances for City and three years before Savinho—yet, somehow, the Spanish appears to have been drawn against the duo in a penalty shootout.
DUBAWA also discovered that current Manchester United first-choice goalkeeper Andre Onana appears to be manning the goal frame for Real Madrid in the penalty shootout. But when we checked his transfer history, we noticed that the Cameroonian has only played with the Dutch team AFC Ajax, Italian giants Inter Milan, and Premier League side Man United. He has never been contracted on loan or a permanent deal to play for Real Madrid.
Finally, DUBAWA noticed that the City players’ shirt designs in the TikTok video differed. Haaland, Diaz, and Savinho all put on the 2024/2025 Man City outfit, while Foden and Silva were both wearing the 2023/2024 outfit. More trifling is Diaz wearing the 2024/2025 design before he slots in a goal from the spot-kick, but when he jubilates Savinho’s goal, he is visibly seen alongside the rest of the team in the previous season’s shirt design.
Football team players never wear different outfit designs in the same game (notably, just the shirt and shorts). It has to be uniform.
Man City’s centre-back, Ruben Diaz, appears to have taken his spot-kick wearing the 2024/2025 outfit but cheers victoriously at teammate Savinho’s goal in the 2023/2024 outfit.
Conclusion
The claim is false. DUBAWA’s investigation discovered that the TikTok video was edited.
.