Ronaldo extends career hat-trick lead over Messi with 1st Serie A triple strike

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first Serie A hat-trick for Juventus in his 46th game, which is also the first scored by a Portuguese player in the Italian top-flight, as the Bianconeri downed Cagliari 4-0 at home to move back to the top of the table

It marked the 5th consecutive Serie A Ronaldo found the back of the net in, his best such run since arriving in Italy in the summer of 2018-19, as the Juventus forward surged to second in the Serie A scoring charts for the season, 2 shy of Ciro Immobile who has scored 17 league goals in 2019-20. In the process, Ronaldo emulated Alexis Sanchez as the only players since the turn of the century to bag league hat-tricks in England, Spain, and Italy.

The hat-trick against Cagliari was the Portugal captain's 36th in European league football (1 for Manchester United in the English Premier League, 34 for Real Madrid in La Liga, and 1 for Juventus in Serie A) since January 2008, which is the most by any player during the said period.

It is the 56th time Ronaldo has scored a hat-trick for club (47) and country (9) during the course of his illustrious career. The 5-time Ballon d'Or winner has the most hat-tricks in the UEFA Champions League (8 apiece with Lionel Messi) and 9 international hat-tricks (level with Sweden's Sven Rydall).

With 36 goals Serie A goals in one and a half seasons with the Bianconeri, Ronaldo would now have his eyes set on Edin Dzeko who is the only player to score 50 or more goals in 3 of Europe's Top 5 leagues (Bundesliga - Wolfsburg, EPL - Manchester City, Serie A - AS Roma).

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Bhargav is a veteran sports journalist and editor at Sportskeeda, with a rich professional experience of 17 years, working for the likes of Siemens and Bombay Dyeing. An avid football and tennis follower for over three decades, Bhargav uses his vast knowledge and experience, attention to detail, an unbiased yet interesting writing style, and thorough research to craft insightful articles, which have raked in over 20 million reads so far.

Bhargav supports Italy at national level, a team steeped in tradition and history according to him. He still harbors the heartbreak from the Azzurri’s 1994 FIFA World Cup final defeat against Brazil, and protagonist-turned-antagonist from the game, ‘Divine Ponytail’ Roberto Baggio is his all-time favorite player. His favorite manager is Marcelo Lippi, who ended Italy’s 24-year wait for the World Cup trophy, winning it in 2006.

Outside Europe’s top five leagues, he follows the MLS following Lionel Messi’s move in 2023 but favors Cristiano Ronaldo in the G.O.A.T. debate. During his free time, Bhargav enjoys driving off to new places and singing.

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Edited by S Chowdhury