The Portuguese has won two of his three appearances in the fixture so far, yet he has never really dominated the game in the way that the Barcelona forward did in 2009 and 2011.
Cristiano Ronaldo relishes the Champions League. The Portuguese is the all-time top scorer in the continental competition, and Saturday he can join the select band of players to have won it three times. But he has never quite made his mark on a final, as Lionel Messi has over the course of his glittering Barcelona career.
If he scores in Milan on Saturday, Ronaldo will make more history by becoming the first player to net in three separate finals, having hit the target for Manchester United versus Chelsea in 2008 and then for Real Madrid against Atletico in 2014.