Ronaldo enjoyed the sort of debut of which legends and dreams are made when he appeared as substitute to score twice in Real Madrid’s 5-2 win over Alaves.

The Brazilian appeared as a 63rd-minute substitute for Miguel Portillo with Madrid 2-1 ahead thanks to first-half goals from Zinedine Zidane and Luis Figo (penalty) and a penalty save from keeper Iker Casillas.

He had been on the pitch only two minutes when confusion in the Alaves defence left him clear to chest down a left-wing cross and fire home for his first goal since his controversial œ30million summer move from Internazionale.

Figo scored another for Madrid before Ronaldo accepted a pass from Steve McManaman to strike his second goal for the European champions.

Afterwards, a delighted Ronaldo said the best is yet to come.

‘I just know I can do more. At the very least I’m going to give it everything.

‘For the first five minutes it was difficult to get into the rhythm of the game but I finished in good shape. I wanted to carry on.’

‘It was hard to watch from the bench but once I got on to the pitch I knew what to do,’ he addded.

‘I was really happy with the crowd and I think they were happy as well.’