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After a relatively slow start to the season, Cristiano Ronaldo has found a rich vein of form and helped fire Juventus to an eight-point lead. The Portuguese scored only five league goals in his first ten games of the season, leading to questions over his ability to perform at his age.
There is a cycle of events that has seemingly occured every year for Ronaldo over the last few campaigns. A slow start would be followed by criticism, doubts over Ronaldo's future, and an eerily unsettling feeling about his performances.
However, this just happens to be the metaphorical calm before the storm. Because in almost every season, what generally follows is a barrage of goals, goals, and more goals. This year was no different. After a slow start, he went on to score a stunning 25 goals in the next 20 Serie A games. Remarkably, Ronaldo failed to score in just two of those 20 games, after failing to score in five in his first ten.
Given his spectacular season, it's natural for the 35-year-old's name to be etched into the history books. Here, we take a look at some of the records broken by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2019/20 Serie A campaign.
#1 First Juventus player to score 25 league goals in 60 years
Despite the list of superstars to have donned the black and white stripes of Juve, no player before Ronaldo reached 25 Serie A goals for nearly 60 years. This is somewhat astonishing, given that the Old Lady have had the likes of Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet, a host of surreal forwards over the years.
The last player to achieve this landmark was Omar Sivori in the year 1961. The Italian-Argentine attacker smashed 25 goals in the 1960/61 season en route the Scudetti, and won the Ballon d'Or that year. Sivori also hit 27 league goals prior to that season as well, another figure that Ronaldo has already surpassed.
The former Manchester United forward has scored 30 goals in 30 Serie A games. He also scored in ten successive games for Juventus, a feat that has never been achieved by any Bianconeri player in their history.
#2 First-ever player to score 50+ goals in Serie A, LaLiga, and EPL
Ronaldo's success in the Premier League and LaLiga Santander has been well-documented. The Portuguese won at least one Ballon d'Or and a UEFA Champions League during his time in both leagues and has established himself as a football icon.
Despite the doubts over his ability to perform at the highest level at the age of 35, he spectacularly silenced his critics in Italy. Ronaldo's 30 goals took his Serie A tally to 51, making him the first-ever and only player to register a minimum of 50 goals in England, Spain, and Italy.
Edin Dzeko of AS Roma boasts a similar record with 50+ goals in both Serie A and the Premier League. However, Ronaldo's achievement of this feat in LaLiga separates him from the Bosnian.
Ronaldo's 30 strikes also mean that he's scored 25 or more in a league season for the eleventh time in his career.
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#3 Highest Portuguese goalscorer in Serie A, La Liga, and EPL
Ronaldo already experienced trophy-laden spells in both Spain and England prior to his Italian adventure. He conquered both leagues with title wins, goals, and in this case, records.
The 35-year-old is the highest Portuguese goalscorer in both the English top-flight (with Manchester United) and Spanish top-flight (with Real Madrid). Ronaldo scored 84 goals in 196 games for the Red Devils, while he racked up a stunning 311 goals in 292 appearances for Los Blancos.
In 2019/20, he also broke the record for the highest-scoring Portuguese in Serie A, ending Rui Costa's 14-year spell as the record holder. The playmaker played in Italy, primarily for AC Milan, from 1994 until 2006. Costa scored 42 goals in over 300 appearances in Serie A, a tally that has been surpassed by Ronaldo.
#4 One of only four men to score 30 Serie A goals since 1958
Juventus' clash against Lazio was essentially an encounter of two of Serie A's highest-scoring and most in-form strikers. Ronaldo faced off with Capocannoniere rival Ciro Immobile, and the pair scored all three of the goals in the match.
Ronaldo's brace saw him enter the history books as one of only four players to register 30 Serie A goals in over half a century. Since 1958, only two other players — Luca Toni (2005/06) and Gonzalo Higuain (2015/16) — reached the 30-goal mark until Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the 83rd minute of the high-octane Serie A clash, Ciro Immobile won and converted a penalty to register his 30th league goal of the season. This made him only the fourth player to enter a select list of illustrious Serie A strikers.
Both Immobile and Ronaldo made history in the space of 20 minutes, but it was Ronaldo who eventually won the battle as Juve emerged victorious. However, the battle for the Capocannoniere still goes on with four games left to play.
#5 Fastest-ever player to 50 Serie A goals
Serie A have had an illustrious group of players ply their trade in Italy. However, Ronaldo staked his claim as one of the league's greatest ever with another stunning achievement. His two goals against Lazio on Monday saw him become the fastest-ever player to reach 50 Serie A goals.
AC Milan icon Andriy Shevchenko previously held the record having hit 50 goals in his first 68 games, and Ronaldo Nazario achieved it in 70 appearances. Cristiano took just 61 games to register 50 goals in the league, which is seven games lesser than what Shevchenko needed to set the record.
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