Cristiano Ronaldo must have smelt blood in the water when he lined up against Spain.The Portugal icon scored his 100th and 101st goals for his country when club football last took a backseat and there was the chance to extend his tally with an all-Iberian clash on Wednesday.That's because Ronaldo lined up against the very team he inflicted a famous hat-trick upon at the 2018 World Cup, rescuing a point at the Russian tournament when it seemed impossible.

Portugal vs Spain

The 35-year-old had opened a dramatic 3-3 draw in Sochi with a clinical penalty, before benefiting from a David de Gea clanger and rounding things off with one of his greatest ever free-kicks.

It was the umpteenth reminder that no matter how well you're playing against a Ronaldo team, you're only one or two moments of magic away from having the game flipped on its head.

Sadly, though, there were no signs of a Ronaldo masterclass during the early exchanges in Lisbon and Spain, despite failing to score during the first-half, were comfortably the more dominant side.

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Ronaldo's elite mentality

Nevertheless, Ronaldo being Ronaldo, there was still time for him to make headlines with a moment that underpins exactly why he's often referred to as the ultimate footballing machine.

Near enough every teammate of Ronaldo's over the decades has vouched for his elite mentality, noting how he arrives to training earlier than others and focuses on every little detail.

Well, that couldn't have been more than apparent than when the referee blew for half-time during Portugal vs Spain a few seconds too early with Ronaldo's reaction being caught on camera.

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Ronaldo complains to the referee

The Juventus superstar couldn't hide his disgust as he exchanged words with the official and pointed to what was presumably a big screen or monitor that displayed the premature time.

You can check out Ronaldo's impassioned reaction down below: 

Ronaldo is one of only two players, alongside Zlatan Ibrahimovic, to have scored in every single minute of regulation time in football history from the first to the 90th.

As a result, Ronaldo is probably the best placed player in the world to be complaining about such a bizarre time-keeping decision and it's impossible to know what difference it could have made.

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Ronaldo shines for Portugal

One thing we do know, however, is that it didn't stop Ronaldo from flying out the blocks in the second-half and he came inches away from scoring one of his finest goals in Portugal colours.

The former Real Madrid player saw his blistering shot fly past Kepa Arrizabalaga, only for the crossbar to deny him the glory, which is the same fate Renato Sanches suffered soon after.

Ronaldo had created a glorious opportunity for his compatriot with a superb outside-of-the-foot pass, but the crossbar once again stayed resolute to keep the game poised at an exciting 0-0.

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