Last update 4 November, 2026 by Alberto Llopis
Ronaldo's signing for Barcelona was closed on 17 July 1996, thousands of kilometers from Camp Nou. The new Barça forward was in Miami with the Brazilian Olympic team. Had 19 years, He came from PSV Eindhoven and had signed for eight seasons. The photo that no one would have bet on seeing so soon was the following: just a year later, that same boy would wear the Inter shirt. Between one and the other they were 47 goals in 49 official matches. To understand why he is still talked about in Barcelona, It is worth stopping at three that he scored on a night in which another footballer scored four.
How much did Barça pay for Ronaldo and what did those pesetas buy?
In the summer of 1996, Josep Lluís Núñez had to present something more than a striker. Johan Cruyff's era had ended, Atlético had just won the League and the Cup and the coach in charge of starting again was Bobby Robson. Ronaldo offered a fairly specific answer to the problem of how to score a goal. In Brazil he had stood out in Cruzeiro; in Netherlands, according to the balance published by PSV itself, wore 54 goals in 57 parties. I even had a World Cup at home: the one of USA 1994, where he was champion without playing a minute.
Barça paid around 2.500 million pesetas, some 15 million euros at nominal exchange rate, not adjusted for inflation. It was a world record when the operation was closed. The interesting thing is in the small print that was collected. the chronicle published the next day: eight seasons, two other optional ones and a clause of 4.000 million during the first five years. On paper, Núñez had resolved the lead for much of the following decade. In the field, Ronaldo took an official match to open a quite different discussion: How much would he be worth if he kept playing like this?.
The first goals were in Montjuïc, not in the Camp Nou
He 25 of August, Radomir Antić's Atlético visited Barça for the first leg of the Super Cup. How the Madrid team had won the double, His rival was the Cup runner-up. And how they were changing the Camp Nou grass, had to play in the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium. There the counter started: two goals from Ronaldo in the 5-2. The other three were from Giovanni, Pizzi and De la Peña. Those last two names are worth retaining.
That Star League ended up in the hands of Fabio Capello's Real Madrid. The Pichichi, instead, It was for the Brazilian: 34 goals in 37 rounds played. Los 47 that are usually cited correspond to all competitions, not only to the championship. The most memorable one was away from home., in a play that started too far from the goal for it to seem like a chance.
Compostela: the goal that is also remembered for Robson's face
He 12 October 1996, in San Lazaro, Ronaldo took the ball near the center of the field. The extraordinary of goal against Compostela It wasn't that no one managed to touch him.. It was precisely the opposite: They grabbed him by the shirt, They forced him to correct his run and he still entered the area with enough balance to choose the shot. On the bench, Robson put his hands to his head. After years it is still difficult to find a more convincing explanation than that gesture.
The night of Pantić's four goals and Ronaldo's three
The other play that explains Ronaldo lasts much less. It happened 12 March 1997, in the quarterfinal second leg of the Copa del Rey. Barça and Atlético came from a 2-2 draw at the Calderón. to rest, the Camp Nou scoreboard said 0-3. Los tres eran de Milinko Pantić. Upon returning from the locker room, Ronaldo scored two in a matter of minutes and, when the game finally seemed to belong to the locals, Pantić scored again. Four goals away from home and they still weren't going to be enough.
Figo noted the 3-4 volley. In the tie he intervened Ivan de la Peña, who found Ronaldo in the area. This time there was no half field ahead and no room to accelerate: He received, he made a hole and crossed the shot. It is the goal that deserves to be seen again after Compostela. The same forward who needed several defenders to stop him in the race could resolve a tie without barely leaving a tile. Pizzi signed the 5-4. Their celebration remained in memory; in the minutes, a hat trick from the Brazilian and four goals from a man from the eliminated team.
What titles did Ronaldo win with Barcelona?
There were three: Spain Supercup, European Cup Winners' Cup and Copa del Rey. His role was different in each one. In the Super Cup he opened the way with the Montjuïc double. In Rotterdam he took responsibility for the penalty against Paris Saint-Germain: 1-0 and title. The final belonged to a competition that no longer exists, the Cup Winners' Cup that faced the European Cup Champions.
Instead, Whoever looks for Ronaldo in the images of the Copa del Rey final 28 June you won't find it. I was in Bolivia playing the Copa América with Brazil. Barça beat Betis by 3-2 in extra time at the Bernabéu with two goals from Figo and one from Pizzi. Ronaldo had done a lot to get his teammates there. Let them ask Atlético.
Why Ronaldo left Barcelona for Inter in 1997
Ronaldo's contract was not ending. What broke down was the negotiation to improve what it already had. The difference matters: Inter did not take a player who was ending his commitment for free, but he deposited the 4.000 million pesetas of the clause, some 24 million euros in exchange. The same figure as in July 1996 seemed to protect Barça and now offered the Italian club an exit route.
Ronaldo would return to Spain in 2002 to play for Real Madrid, where he marked 104 goals in 177 official matches before leaving at the beginning of 2007. But the Ronaldo that the culés sit at the table when discussing the best forwards in history He has his own t-shirt and even a coach gesture. Barça had paid to watch eight years of that football. Today it is enough to say "Compostela" so that anyone who saw just one will remember the entire play.
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