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Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest players of all time and has had one of, if not the most illustrious career in footballing history. His career so far has seen him go from a young hopeful at Sporting Lisbon to capturing the imagination of the entire world through his exploits at Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus, and his national team Portugal.
Ronaldo's professional career began in 2003, and since 2004 the Portuguese legend has featured in every team of the year. But it is his career since the 2007/08 season which truly marks the point that Ronaldo became the player that the world knows and applauds today.
Although Ronaldo's career so far has been filled with a whole host of memorable moments and highlights, this article will look at what are arguably the top 10 highlights of his awe-inspiring career so far.
#10 Winning his first major trophy
After wildly impressing Sir Alex Ferguson in a friendly between Man United and Sporting Lisbon, Cristiano Ronaldo was approached by the legendary club and offered a contract.
Without much hesitation, Cristiano agreed to join the club at the young age of 18, becoming the first ever Portuguese player to be signed by the Red Devils, as well as being the costliest teenager in English football history at the time.
Although Manchester United didn't have a trophy-filled season, compared to previous years, in Ronaldo's debut season, they did manage to win the FA Cup, with the then young pretender scoring a header.
Why this is a key highlight of Ronaldo's career is that it was the first major trophy he won, he won the 2002 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira with Sporting but he did not play in the match, and although he has since then gone on to win much bigger titles, this was the first significant one that would have no doubt given him the taste for the success that would later come to him.
#9 Scoring last gasp winner in Copa Del Rey final (2011)
When Ronaldo joined Real Madrid, for a then record fee, he was tasked with being the central figure to stop Barcelona's dominance in Spain.
Whilst his first season at Los Blancos proved to be trophy-less, it was at the tail end of the 2010/11 season where Ronaldo led Real Madrid to a long-awaited trophy.
Although it was only the domestic cup, a trophy that has lost significance in the top 5 leagues, this is a highlight for Cristiano Ronaldo as not only did it mark his first trophy for Real Madrid, the match was ultimately decided, and remembered, by one of the all-time greatest headers in footballing history which saw Ronaldo leap high above the Barcelona defenders and bury the ball into the back of the net with immense power and athleticism.
#8 The 2007/08 Season
Despite arguably producing football to an even higher level in other seasons in his career, the 2007/08 season will always be one of Ronaldo's most legendary. The reason for this is that it was the moment that Ronaldo elevated himself from being one of the sport's talented stars to reaching the absolute apex of world football, as Lionel Messi did a year later.
The most obvious reason for this season having this significance is that Ronaldo scored 42 goals that season, and ended up being the top scorer in both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League.
Through his unbelievable performances throughout the entire season, Ronaldo led the Red Devils to a second consecutive Premier League title, and a rare Champions League triumph, which would be the first European Cup victory in Ronaldo's career.
On an individual note, it was in light of this stellar year which saw Ronaldo scoop the first Ballon d'Or of his then young rising career.
In addition, this season is regarded by many, still to this day, as the greatest individual season in the history of the Premier League, due to the trophies won during this campaign and the number of important goals Cristiano Ronaldo scored across all competitions.
Furthermore, this season has more significance as it is constantly used as an argument in the seemingly ceaseless "GOAT" debate with Messi, as it demonstrates that Ronaldo has been able to perform at the highest level for multiple clubs, which is something his rival cannot say.
#7 Joining Real Madrid
After experiencing immense success at Manchester United on a team level as well as a personal one, Ronaldo decided to fulfil a childhood dream of his and join perhaps the most famous club in the world, Real Madrid.
Due to the fact that Ronaldo had already established himself as the best player in the world the year previous to this move he wasn't going to come cheap, and in light of this he was sold for a then world record fee of £80 million.
Whilst for anyone else this price tag may have proved a burden, it had the absolute opposite impact for CR7 who gave priceless performances over the next decade at Real Madrid, winning innumerable team and individual awards, and becoming Real Madrid's top goal scorer ever with a peerless 450 goals in 438 games.
Although the moment of him joining Madrid alone isn't necessarily the highlight in itself, it represents the pivotal point where Ronaldo, along with Messi at Barcelona, transcended the footballing world to previously unknown heights.
#6 Performances in the KO stages of the 2016/17 Champions League
Real Madrid's successful title defence in the 2017 Champions League was defined by Cristiano Ronaldo. Despite making a slow start for his standards up until the quarterfinals, with just two goals to his name, Ronaldo took his game to a level not seen in the Champions League before or since.
Ronaldo scored 10 goals from the quarterfinals to the final, scoring five goals against Bayern Munich, three goals against Atletico Madrid, and two goals against Juventus in the final, with a ratio of two goals per game.
These performances broke a number of records including scoring back to back hat tricks, most goals scored in a final overall, and most goals scored in the knockout stage in a single season.
This is unquestionably one of the chief highlights of Ronaldo's career as it perhaps represents the absolute peak of his powers as the figures alone are staggering, but when one also considers that he managed to do this against three of the best teams in the world, in the most critical stage of the most elite competition, it really beggars belief.
#5 Winning his second Ballon d'Or
It may seem arbitrary to have this particular Ballon d'Or as more important than some of his others when one considers the implications of this personal victory then it becomes clear why it fully deserves its place on the list.
Cristiano won his first Ballon Do'r during the 2008/09 season whilst still at Manchester United, he would have to wait another four seasons, however, before he would claim the prize for the second time.
Being the best player in the world is no secret desire of Ronaldo's, even from a younger age, and having to settle for second place to Lionel Messi no doubt infuriated the Portuguese.
It didn't dishearten him, however, as after an arduous absence as the world's best player he managed to win his second Ballon d'Or, breaking Messi's four-year stranglehold on the coveted prize.
Furthermore, this pivotal point for many marks the point in the last decade where Ronaldo redressed the balance in his rivalry with Messi, and where the Argentine had dominated between 2009-2012, the period between 2013-18 saw Ronaldo do the same.
#4 Becoming Real Madrid's top goalscorer
Winning the accolade of being a football club's top goalscorer is usually reserved for players who stay at a club for the entirety of their careers or the vast majority of it. This was not the case for Ronaldo, who in just seven seasons became Real Madrid's top goalscorer, overtaking the legendary Raul who scored 323 goals in 741 games over 16 years at Real Madrid.
Ronaldo managed to do this in less than half the time and smashed this record in the 2015/16 season. Since then, he managed to take his total to 450 goals, 127 goals more than Raul, placing him head and shoulders above the rest.
Alone this is a highlight due to it being at a club as prestigious as Real Madrid, however, when one considers that Ronaldo achieved this record by scoring more than a goal a game it becomes a truly mind-blowing feat that has never been done before and will most likely never again be replicated in any of the Top 5 leagues.
#3 Winning the Champion's League five times
As aforementioned, the Champions League is where Ronaldo arguably plays at his highest level, with the Portuguese maestro rising to the occasion year after year in the most elite competition in football.
CR7 has managed to win the Champions League at both Manchester United and Real Madrid, and upon Real Madrid defeating Liverpool in the 2018 final, Ronaldo managed to claim his fifth Champions League medal.
This victory was a record for many reasons, with it being Real Madrid's fourth triumph in five seasons, their third in a row, and also Ronaldo's fifth. Since the Champions League era has begun no player has won more than four Champions League trophies other than Ronaldo.
This will no doubt be one of the greatest achievements in Ronaldo's illustrious career as it further cements his claim to being the greatest player in the history of the Champions League with his record five titles sitting nicely next to his titles for being both the top goalscorer and assist maker in the tournament's history.
#2 Winning fifth Ballon d'Or
During the 2017/18 season, Cristiano Ronaldo once again won the coveted Ballon d'Or for his exploits over the course of the 2017 calendar year.
This would be Ronaldo's fifth Ballon d'Or in total, which brought him level with Messi, with this being the first time since 2010, when both players had one Ballon d'Or each to their name, that Ronaldo had been on equal terms with his career rival.
Proving that he is as good as Messi, if not better, has always been a major goal for Ronaldo since 2009, and it no doubt haunted him over the years to have the little Argentine clearly ahead of him in Ballon d'Or victories, with Messi having a 4-1 lead over Ronaldo at one point, and it no doubt was a very sweet moment for him and his fans when he managed to claw his way back from that deficit.
Although for reasons of symmetry it seems perfect that both players currently sit on five wins apiece, it will be interesting to see who will end up with more.
#1 Winning the European Championship with Portugal
There could only be one choice for the number one spot of Ronaldo's career highlights, and if you asked Ronaldo that question he would say the same, which he, in fact, did admit during an impassioned post-match speech to his team after the final.
Ronaldo had finished the 2015/16 in good fashion, winning the Champions League for the second time with Real Madrid, as well as scoring at least 50 goals in a season for a sixth consecutive time.
It was whilst playing for Portugal however, which proved to be the most significant aspect of that season for Ronaldo. A major blot on both Ronaldo's and Messi's careers at that point was the fact that they had failed to emulate their prowess on the international stage.
All of this criticism would be rendered as false after the Euros in 2016; at least for Ronaldo, as the Portuguese legend captained his side to winning his country's first ever international trophy, by defeating France in Paris by a 1-0 score which actually saw Ronaldo painfully go off injured due to a reckless challenge by Dimitri Payet.
The primary reason why this victory is the absolute highlight of Ronaldo's career is that it meant he had achieved everything in football (save the World Cup) on an individual, club, and international level. In addition, this success with Portugal gave him a well deserved edge over Messi who has not had equal success with a much superior Argentinian side so far in his career.
These are the top 10 career highlights of Ronaldo. If you disagree with any aspects of this list write in the comments section and let's have a debate.
