Cristiano Ronaldo: Man Utd superstar's free-kick in warmup that made crowd roar | OneFootball

For a prolonged period of time, Cristiano Ronaldo was one of the most feared free-kick takers on the planet.

In the Portuguese superstar's first stint with Manchester United and throughout most of his time at Real Madrid, he was a force to be reckoned with from set-piece situations.

At the time of writing, Ronaldo has scored 47 free-kicks during the course of his incredible club career thus far.

The bulk of them came during the 36-year-old's famous spell at Real Madrid, but he did still manage to net 13 in a United shirt between 2003 and 2009.

Most of them were absolute stunners too, with his knuckle-ball effort versus Portsmouth and long-range rocket against Arsenal in the Champions League semi-finals the two standouts.

But one of Ronaldo's finest free-kicks on English soil wasn't actually scored in a game situation.

Instead, it came during a warm-up at Old Trafford, with one fan in attendance capturing the moment of magic on camera.

Ronaldo's magnificent strike from a tight(ish) angle flew into the top corner and it was so good that the crowd even roared when it rippled the back of the net.

It's not often you hear that when a goal is scored in the warmup...

Video: Ronaldo's perfect free-kick in Man Utd warmup

What a beauty.

It's been quite a while since Ronaldo replicated that kind of set-piece brilliance in a competitive setting at club level, though.

Juventus in a Turin derby versus Torino.

That was Ronaldo's only snippet of dead-ball genius for the Bianconeri in what was otherwise a goal-filled three years for the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.

The leading scorer in men's international football is still awaiting his first free-kick goal for United since returning to the club back in the summer.

Given that Bruno Fernandes has rifled a few into the back of the net for the Red Devils in recent times and may subsequently be the team's first-choice taker, Ronaldo might not find it too easy to end the wait...