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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players to ever play the game of football. The Portuguese has been very consistent with his performances ever since he graced the scene as a 17-year-old boy.
Now at 33, Ronaldo has not lost his desire and continues to defy age by performing at the top level year after year. In the summer when he moved from Real Madrid to Juventus, many thought his end had come.
And despite taking four games before eventually opening his goal account in the Serie A, Ronaldo has since not looked back. His amazing shape and physique makes him stand out among other footballers and it pretty much explains why most people regard him as the greatest player of the 21st Century.
On the pitch, Ronaldo is a beast and that is epitomised by his goal-per-game ratio. He currently stands as the all-time top scorer in the Champions League with a whopping 120 goals.
The Portuguese has also broken several other records in his 16 years of playing at the top level, with many more surely to come. It has almost become as if no record in football can escape the 33-year-old but, in fact, there are a few.
So let’s take a look at five football records that Ronaldo is yet to break:
#5 Most goals in a single European campaign
There are very few records that you would not find Cristiano Ronaldo’s name boldly attributed to. The Juventus superstar is currently the all-time top scorer in the UEFA Champions League, but there is one goal-scoring record he is missing in his cabinet.
The Portuguese is on a tie with Monaco striker Radamel Falcao when it comes to most goals scored in a single European campaign. This is because it takes into account Europe’s two flagship competitions – the Champions League and the Europa League.
In the 2010-11 Europa League season, Falcao netted an astonishing 17 goals. Till date, it remains unmatched and unbroken, although a year later Ronaldo equalled the record by scoring 17 in the Champions League.
To this end, the Juventus attacker holds the record for most goals scored in a single UEFA Champions League season, whiles Falcao is the ultimate record holder for the Europa League with the same 17 goals.
#4 Most goals in a final
Cristiano Ronaldo has played in many finals, for a man who has won an impressive five Champions League titles. The 33-year-old has managed to get on the scoresheet in three of those finals, making him one of the few to score in three separate European final games.
The Portuguese also has four goals from the five Champions League finals he has played in, but that still does not make him the player with the most final goals. Ronaldo netted in the 2008 Champions League final when Manchester United played against Chelsea and was also on the scoresheet in the 2014 and 2017 finals.
Against Atletico Madrid in 2014, he scored once as Real Madrid emerged 4-1 victors after extra-time. He again scored twice in the 2014 final against Juventus.
Yet, his goals in finals are still surpassed by that of two other Real Madrid legends, Ferenc Puskas and Alfredo Di Stefano. Both players have scored seven goals apiece in European finals.
#3 The fastest hat-trick
Cristiano Ronaldo is a player who scores hat-tricks for fun when it comes to the Champions League. The Portuguese has recorded five hat-tricks in the competition and is only second to Lionel Messi, who has six.
But both players do not hold the record for the fastest hat-trick scored in European competition. As surprising as this may sound, France international Bafetimbi Gomis is the ultimate holder of that enviable record.
The 33-year-old dreadlocked striker achieved the feat in 2011 when he scored three goals in less than ten minutes in a Champions League game between Olympique Lyon and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb.
Ronaldo’s fastest hat-trick in Europe, however, came in 2012 when he netted thrice in the space of 12 minutes against Malmo FF.
#2 Most appearances in European competition
Ronaldo may be one of the all-time greats when it comes to the history of European football, but not even that gets him close to the all-time appearances record. The Juventus star is currently 33 years old and might still have time to attempt to break it but it looks highly impossible.
The Portugal captain has so far made 158 appearances in European competitions but is still way short of the record holder, Iker Casillas.
The Porto goalkeeper, who made his debut in the Champions League in the late 1990s for Real Madrid, has accrued 179 appearances in the competition. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, the former Spanish no.1 is still playing and continues to extend the record.
Depending on how long Ronaldo will keep playing in the Champions League, Casillas’ record could be broken.
#1 Fastest goal in the Champions League
Ronaldo is so dominant in the Champions League that it is so easy to think he holds every record when it comes to goal-scoring. But as stated earlier, there are a few which seem to have so far escaped him in his illustrious career.
And one of those is the record for fastest goal in the Champions League. This is a record currently held by former Dutch international Roy Makaay. The striker scored a sensational goal after just 10.12 seconds for Bayern Munich during a Champions League game against Real Madrid in the year 2007.
Ronaldo has also scored many early goals, but none came as early as that of the Dutchman. The Portuguese’s fastest strike in the Champions League came after four minutes in a game against Juventus in 2013.
