The Brazilian gave his assessment of the most important match of the Spanish football season, describing his former club's 2-1 victory against Barcelona as 'exceptionally beautiful, exceptionally remarkable'.

Ronaldo spoke at the Ballon d'Or ceremony in London on Monday, a day after Los Blancos beat their greatest rivals in La Liga's tenth round of matches at Camp Nou.

Kylian Mbappé opened the scoring in the 41st minute following a deflection off Gerard Martín's clearance.

Raphinha restored parity in the 61st minute, and Mbappé added a second goal in the 87th minute, converting Eduardo Camavinga's cutback.

Barcelona had maintained an undefeated record across their first nine league fixtures and would have established a nine-point advantage with a win over Real Madrid.

Hansi Flick's squad suffered their first La Liga defeat of the campaign, while Real Madrid narrowed the gap to three points, positioning themselves third with 24 points, one point behind Atlético Madrid.

It was the first El Clásico of José Mourinho's second tenure as Madrid's head coach, and it extended his undefeated record in the fixture to six matches.

Ronaldo, who secured the Ballon d'Or in 1997 and 2002 and represented both Barcelona and Real Madrid, was present among the distinguished former players at the London Palladium.

In remarks shared by MadridXtra on X, he stated, “Winning against Barcelona at their stadium is not easy. Real Madrid played very well, they defended very well.

“Mourinho is shaping the team to his liking.”