Cristiano Ronaldo is absolutely nerveless. The Manchester United star has proven time and time again throughout his decorated career that nobody in the history of men's football is more unerringly reliable when it comes to performing in the big moments.From countless Champions League comebacks to World Cup hat-tricks and everything in between, it's not for no reason that Ronaldo is so often heralded as the ultimate clutch player.

Ronaldo vs Juventus in 2018

And while we would be here all day if we wanted to breakdown every single time that Ronaldo has proven that fact, one particular occasion comes to mind in regards to the 37-year-old's pressure performances.

Cast your mind back to Ronaldo's last season at Real Madrid in 2017/18 where it looked as though a place in the Champions League final was simply assured after the first leg of their semi-final tie.

Los Blancos had swept aside Juventus in their own back garden in a game famous for Ronaldo scoring arguably his greatest ever goal: a stunning bicycle kick that drew applause from the home fans in Turin.

Carnage at the Bernabeu

However, the 3-0 lead that Zinedine Zidane's men had established in northern Italy came apart at the seams in extraordinary circumstances as Juventus managed to pull the aggregate score back to 3-3 in Madrid.

With Mario Mandzukic's brace and Blaise Matuidi's equaliser finding the net unreturned in the opening 90 minutes, it looked as though Real vs Juve would be going all the way to an additional half-hour.

But you know the rest of the story with a crazy stoppage-time incident that culminated in Gianluigi Buffon's dismissal and Real winning a penalty that Ronaldo duly converted flipping the game on its head.

Now, that fact alone is an emphatic demonstration of Ronaldo's ultimate big-game brilliance because the pressure to score a penalty directly leading to a Champions League final must have been incalculable.

Soccer Football - Champions League Quarter Final Second Leg - Real Madrid vs Juventus - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - April 11, 2018 Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo scores their first goal from a penalty REUTERS/Susana Vera

What Ronaldo went through before iconic penalty

However, the entire situation gets more remarkable when you appreciate footage that has reemerged on Twitter this week showing what Ronaldo had to go through before taking the penalty.

The whole fracas surrounding Buffon's sending off led to a chaotic few minutes where Juventus pulled out all the stops to try and get into Ronaldo's head in one last bid to save their European hopes.

From moving the ball off the spot to endlessly swarming around the Real star, the Old Lady were so relentless with their mind games that countless players would surely have crumbled under the pressure.

But not Ronaldo. Oh no, not Ronaldo. So, be sure to bask in the steely nerves of one of the greatest athletes in history by watching how he overcame Juventus' tactics to score his iconic penalty down below:

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is what you call mental fortitude.

Ronaldo's incredible nervelessness

It's crazy to think that Ronaldo had to deal with the carnage brought about by the sending off, the change in Juventus' goalkeeper and all the mind games that came with it before even stepping back for his run-up.

It is quite possibly one of the clearest demonstrations of the mental side of penalties and pressure moments because Ronaldo had to hold firm for minutes of provocation to produce seconds of perfection.

Besides, Ronaldo's emphatic conversion was enough to send Real to a third consecutive Champions League final that ended in a third consecutive victory with Real defeating Liverpool in Kiev.

"Pochettino to Man United CLOSE" (Football Terrace)

And none of it would have been possible without Ronaldo proving himself as football's ultimate pressure performer.