Cristiano Ronaldo's affinity with a football has always been something to behold. 

The showboating has been turned down a notch, but the extraordinary physical achievements haven't dimmed as he enters his 36th year. 

At the real height of his powers, Ronaldo even began to veer into the metaphysical to control the ball.  

Now we're accustomed to seeing the five-time Ballon d'Or winner dribbling as if the inside of his boots were doused in superglue, but in 2013, Ronaldo came up with a new trick to help with his first touch. 

As the ball dropped, he put both hands out as he were about to catch it. Then, at the last moment, he pulled them back and took a touch. 

Here he is performing the trick for Portugal. It looks as if he's about to deliberately handball: 

It wasn't a one-off, though. Skip to 4:50 in the footage below and you can see him pull it off on three separate occasions, including once in El Clasico. 

A bemused Carles Puyol could only look on and Ronaldo promptly made a pass away from the onrushing Dani Alves and Xavi. 

He's magic! 

It's a simple enough trick really, but one which epitomises Ronaldo's constant desire to push boundaries. 

The forward is still mesmerising to watch all these years on. 

At Juventus, he's continued to adapt his game so we're less likely to see him humiliating opponents with his footwork. Instead, he can be found leaping metres into the air and powering past defenders.

Ultimately - and more importantly - he's still scoring a ridiculous number of goals. His tally for the season currently stands at 33 for club and country, and that's despite Juventus having had their problems under Andrea Pirlo. 

Ronaldo continues to defy expectations and he's just as thrilling to watch to see what revolutionary move he'll come up with next.