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Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to loving the life at Juventus, breaking records left, right and center. His recent move to Serie A from La Liga hasn't put a break on his goal-scoring streak and while he did take a few matches to get into the groove both domestically and in Europe, he has adapted well to the physically taxing nature of the Italian League.
With his twilight years fast approaching, ushering the final few years of a phenomenal and legendary career spread across some of the best teams in Europe, his every goal is virtually a new record. But there are still a few records that he would be vying to break in the next few seasons with Juventus.
5. Most Goals in European Championships (Finals+Qualifying)
In 2016, Cristiano Ronaldo finally saw success with Portugal to win his and Portugal's first major international trophy ever. After the painful defeat in the 2004 final at home soil, he finally led his team to European success in France against great odds.
On the individual front, he went on to match Michael Platini's record for most goals in the tournament finals (excluding the qualifying stage) of 9. You won't put it beyond him to add a few more goals to his tally in 2020.
With 2020 Euro qualifications beginning next year, he would also be gunning for Robbie Keane's record for most goals in the qualifying phase of the continental tournament. With 20 goals to his name already, he is just 3 goals behind the Irish legend.
He hasn't featured in the Portuguese squad ever since the World Cup but national coach Santos has already mentioned that he is very much part of his plans and you can be sure he would be motivated as always to show his goal-scoring prowess.
4. Most international goals
The current holder of this honor is not a household name, especially in European football. The current record is held by an Iranian legend who retired just a couple of years back at the ripe age of 47, Ali Daei.
While Ronaldo is still off the pace of his 109 goals for Iran, he did manage to become the highest scoring European in France during the World Cup with 85 international goals. Given his form and Portugal's lack of attacking options at striker position, he might well have a few seasons before hanging his boots.
He has already mentioned his desire to give the World Cup another shot in Qatar and 4 years should be enough for him to catch Daei or at the least become the first ever European to score 100 international goals.
3. Most Champions League / European Cups
Cristiano Ronaldo's 4th European success this year with Real Madrid in the past 5 seasons was his fifth overall winners' medal in the Champions League. But he's still a medal short of another left-winger's 6 European Cups, Paco Gento.
Gento won all of his European titles with the Real Madrid side that won the first 5 titles on the trot destroying the competition with some of the most one-sided tournaments in European history. Though his record of most titles with a single team might be secured for now, it might come under threat in coming years from Lionel Messi who is at 4 titles with Barcelona.
Given Juventus' determination to win the Champions League title this season at long last, he might well lead the Italian giants to continental success in the coming seasons. He can definitely match or may even surpass Gento's record given his 4-year contract with the Bianconneri.
2. First player to reach 50 assists in Europe
While his goal scoring exploits in Europe are legendary, he is the king of assists too in the Champions League. He is the all time top scorer of the competition and is still going strong. He was the first player ever to break the 100 goal barrier in Europe and could be heading for more milestones in Europe.
While most people have had an issue with him being too selfish and not passing the ball enough to his teammates, the stats suggest otherwise, at least in Europe. He leads the way in Europe with 42 assists, 2 of which have come this season with Juventus. Given his role in Juventus XI is more on the flanks with Mandzukic running down the middle, you expect him to break the 50 assist barrier in the coming seasons.
1. Most appearances in the Champions League
A career spanning over 15 years with some of the best European teams, Ronaldo has featured in the Champions League with 3 different teams and has won the Cup with 2 of them. Over these years, he has amassed an impressive 158 caps for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus. This has been helped by the fact that all these teams have been strong contenders and have gone deep into the tournament.
He, however, is behind his former Real Madrid captain, the Spanish World Cup winner Iker Cassilas who leads the all time list with 173 caps. Given that both of them are still active and would be featuring for their teams in the Round of 16 ties of this year's tournament as well, the record may take a couple of years to break.
But with Cassilas at the end of his career, his contract with Porto runs down at the end of the season, it's inevitable Ronaldo overtakes his record to be the most capped player in the Cup's history.
