Cristiano Ronaldo is at that stage of his career where any match he plays and any goal he scores creates a new record. Records have been following this super human lately. Cristiano is arguably one of the best if not the best to ever play football. He is not just a good footballer but a great athlete.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Playing History
Sporting CP
Ronaldo earned his place in the youth team of Sporting CP at the age of 16, after he was promoted by the first-team manager. Ronaldo became the first sporting CP player to play in the under-16, under-17, under-18, B-team and the first team before finally graduating into the senior team in the year 2002.
His exploits for Sporting CP brought him into prominence and some of the biggest clubs in England like Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester United started courting him. Ronaldo’s representative spoke with then-Liverpool boss Gerard Houllier and Barcelona president, Joan Laporta on signing him. The Arsenal Manager also met with Ronaldo to discuss a possible transfer.
Manchester United
Cristiano Ronaldo played in a UEFA Champions League against Manchester United, in 2003. Alex Ferguson was impressed by Ronaldo’s performance in a 3-1 defeat of Manchester United in August 2003 and brought him to the club in the same year.
Cristiano Ronaldo became one of Manchester United’s most important players during his six-year stint at the club and during that time the club became one of the most successful clubs in Europe as it won three league titles on the trot as well as the UEFA Champions League in 2008.
Real Madrid
In 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo became the most expensive player in the world after Spanish giant Real Madrid paid Manchester United £80 million to bring him to Madrid. He scored 33 goals in his very first season.
In the following season, he ended the Spanish league season with 40 goals, which became a record in the league’s history and helped Real Madrid win the Copa Del Rey.
In the Champions League, Ronaldo scored 17 goals that made him the highest scorer ever in a single season of the tournament. He won three back-to-back Champions League titles with Real Madrid and four in total with the Spanish Club.
Juventus
After rumors of an imminent move from Real Madrid, Ronaldo secured a 100 million Euros transfer to Juventus which also included an additional 12 million euros in fee and contributions to Ronaldo’s youth club. His transfer was the highest for a player above 30 years old.
Ronaldo attributed his move to Juventus to the need for a new challenge, but later said he opted for a transfer due to a lack of support from the club president. He debuted for Juventus in a Serie A goal against Chievo on August 18, 2018. In his first Champions League appearance for Juventus, he was sent off due to violent conduct.
Who has more records Ronaldo or Messi?
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Awards | Lionel Messi |
| 5 | Ballon d'Or | 6 |
| 2 | The Best FIFA Men's Player | 1 |
| 4 | European Golden Shoe | 6 |
| 0 | World Cup Golden Ball | 1 |
| 4 | UEFA Player of the Year | 3 |
| 14 | FIFPro World XI | 14 |
| 4 | Player of the Year (league) | 6 |
The individual battle between Ronaldo and Messi has been the defining feature of modern football for the past decade and more.
Messi went ahead of Ronaldo in the Ballon d'Or stakes when he won his sixth in 2019 and it looks likely that he will stay ahead, with the 2020 award cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, meaning the next chance Ronaldo has of winning is 2021, by which point he will be nearly 37.
Ronaldo does boast more of FIFA's new 'The Best' awards and has been crowned UEFA Player of the Year on more occasions, but Messi has won more league Player of the Year accolades. Of course, it must be said that Ronaldo has won the Player of the Year award in England, Spain and Italy.
Messi has got his hands on the European Golden Shoe a record six times, which is two more than Ronaldo, and is marginally ahead of his rival overall, but the fact that both have been on the FIFPro World XI 14 times is an illustration of how closely fought the battle has been.
What records Cristiano Ronaldo has broken?
- All-time leading scorer
- Most capped Portuguese player
- All-time top scorer for Portugal – 103
- Most international goals by a European player – 103
- Most appearances at European Championship tournament
- Most goals in European Championships history
- Most European Championship matches scored in
- Oldest scorer of a World Cup hat-trick
- All-time top scorer for Real Madrid – 450 goals
- All-time top scorer for Real Madrid in a single season – 61 goals
- Most hat-tricks in Real Madrid history – 44
- Fastest player to score 150 goals in La Liga – 140 games
- Fastest player to score 200 goals in La Liga – 178 games
- Fastest player to score 250 goals in La Liga – 228 games
- Fastest player to score 300 goals in La Liga – 286 games
- First player to score 50+ goals in the Premier League, La Liga & Serie A
- First player to reach 100 Champions League wins
- All-time Champions League top scorer – 134 goals
- Most Champions League assists of all time – 37
- First player to score 10+ Champions League goals for three different clubs
- First player to score 100 club goals in three different countries
- Most goals in a single Champions League season – 17
- Most seasons as Champions League top scorer – 7
- Only player to score in all six games of a Champions League group stage - 2017/18
- Fastest to 100 goals in Juventus history - 131 games
- Most goals in Champions League finals – 4
- Most consecutive seasons with 10+ goals in Europe’s top five leagues – 15 seasons
- Most appearances in UEFA Team of the Year – 15
- All-time top scorer for Juventus in a single season – 37 goals
- Fastest player to score 50 goals in Serie A – 61 appearances
