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Cristiano Ronaldo is widely regarded as one of the best players to have graced the game. During an illustrious, nearly two-decade-long career, the 36-year-old has been a standout performer for club and country, scoring goals and winning titles galore.
Despite being on the wrong side of 30, Ronaldo recently became the first Juventus player to score 100 goals for the club in their first three seasons. He is coming off a fabulous outing at Euro 2020, scoring five goals and bagging an assist, even as Portugal's title defense ended on a whimper.
Considering his prolific scoring prowess, it is not surprising to note that over the years Ronaldo has been a part of several attacking troikas. On that note, here's a look at the five best attacking trios the Portugal captain has been a part of during his illustrious career:
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo - Alvaro Morata - Federico Chiesa (Juventus)
Juventus' attacking troika of Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata and Federico Chiesa may have played only one season together. But it has already sizzled as an attacking partnership, registering almost 100 goal contributions (70 goals, 27 assists) in all competitions.
Ronaldo operated predominantly down the center, while Morata and Chiesa played on the wings. The Spaniard also played as a centre-forward and a second striker on occasion.
Though Morata and Chiesa are not prolific scorers like Ronaldo, who scored 36 times last season, the duo more than made up for that by registering a high number of assists for the Portuguese star and other Juventus teammates.
Despite their exploits, Juventus failed to win their first league title in a decade. Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to note that both Morata and Chiesa are on loan, from Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina, respectively.
All three of Ronaldo, Morata and Chiesa excelled at Euro 2020, albeit for different teams, and will look to carry on in the same vein under new manager Massimiliano Allegri.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo - Ruud van Nistelrooy - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Cristiano Ronaldo formed one of his earliest attacking trios at Manchester United when he combined with Dutchman Ruud van Nistelrooy and Wayne Rooney.
It was one of the very few occasions Ronaldo was outscored in an attacking partnership. The Portuguese managed only 21 strikes across the two campaigns (2004-05 and 2005-06) the trio played together, with Van Nistelrooy contributing 40 goals and Rooney 36.
However, in Ronaldo's defense, it can be said that his rather low goal tally is attributable to the fact that he operated on the flanks, along with Rooney, as Van Nistelrooy played down the middle. Ronaldo did have the most assists of the three, with 18; Rooney chipped in with 16, while Van Nistelrooy registered ten.
However, with the three operating together at a time when Chelsea became a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, United only had the Carling Cup to show for the exploits of their attacking trio during this period.
#3 Cristiano Ronaldo - Paulo Dybala - Gonzalo Higuain (Juventus)
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the bulk of the goals during his season-long attacking partnership with Argentines Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain at Juventus.
The Portuguese, fresh off winning the Serie A title in his first campaign in the competition, continued from where he left off in 2019-20, scoring 37 goals across competitions. Higuain, who scored a league-record 36 strikes four years ago, was a pale shadow of his illustrious self.
Despite operating as the centre-forward, Higuain managed just 11 strikes all season, contributing just eight goals in Juventus' ninth-successive Scudetto triumph. Dybala, meanwhile, fared a bit better than his embattled compatriot, registering 17 strikes and also chipping in with 14 assists.
It wasn't a surprise that after his leanest scoring campaign in more than a decade, Higuain left the European scene for the supposedly easier environs of MLS in the US.
Predictably, the 2014 FIFA World Cup runner-up has fared better, scoring nine times in 23 games across two seasons for his MLS team Inter Miami.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo - Carlos Tevez - Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Like his partnership with Van Nistelrooy and Rooney, Ronaldo's second attacking partnership at Manchester United, this time with Carlos Tevez and Rooney, also lasted two seasons. But it proved to be a hugely more successful one in terms of the contributions from each man and the success the club enjoyed, thanks to the trio's collective exploits.
Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney were joined by Carlos Tevez at Old Trafford in the summer of 2007, a year after Van Nistelrooy left the club. And the troika hit it off from the outset.
Ronaldo, despite playing on the wings, had a campaign to remember that season, sizzling with 42 goals as United won the Premier League and the Champions League. Tevez contributed 19 goals while Rooney registered 18 strikes across competitions. United's next highest goalscorer that season was Anderson with five.
Though the partnership cooled off a bit in 2008-09, it was still potent enough for United to reach successive Champions League finals and win their third straight Premier League title. Ronaldo, who was heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid that season but reluctantly agreed to stay on, struck 26 times, Tevez 15 and Rooney 17.
Both Ronaldo and Tevez would leave Old Trafford at the end of that season. While Tevez stayed in the Premier League, joining Manchester City, Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo - Gareth Bale - Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
It is perhaps fitting that Cristiano Ronaldo would be part of one of the most successful attacking tridents at Real Madrid, where he scored a staggering 450 goals and won four Champions League titles.
Gareth Bale arrived at Real Madrid in the summer of 2013 to join the prolific striking duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Ronaldo, who predominantly played down the centre during this time, was joined by Bale and Benzema on the flanks to devastating effect.
Christened the BBC (Bale, Benzema, Cristiano), the troika helped Real Madrid win their much-coveted La Decima in the Champions League. Bale scored 22 times, Benzema 24, while Ronaldo sizzled with 51 strikes, including a record 17 in the Champions League.
In the next four years, BBC would help Madrid win three more Champions League titles and a La Liga title. The prolific attacking trident contributed nearly 350 more strikes in this period, with Ronaldo scoring more than half of them, making them one of the most prolific scoring trios in the game's history.
Like all good things come to an end, the BBC, which helped Madrid win 13 titles in five years, got disbanded when Ronaldo left Madrid for Juventus in the summer of 2018.
