'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
A 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo joined Italian giants Juventus in the summer of 2018-19 following a hugely successful nine-year spell at Real Madrid where he won 4 Champions League titles, 2 Liga titles and a spate of other titles.
The €100 million deal marked the highest transfer fee paid by an Italian club and the highest paid by any club for a player past his 30th birthday. And it proved to be a deal worth its weight in gold as the record-scorer for Real Madrid belied his detractors by producing a successful debut season in Italy.
Unlike at Real Madrid, where he scored in his first 3 Liga starts, Ronaldo endured a 3-game goalless run in the Serie A before scoring his first Italian top-flight goal. The Portuguese marksman reached 10 Serie A goals in his first 14 games, equaling the record set by former Juventus player John Charles almost six decades ago.
Ronaldo ended his debut season in Italy by scoring 21 Serie A goals, five goals adrift of top-scorer Fabio Quagliarella of Sampdoria.
Let us now find out the top 4 leading marksman in the Italian top-flight since Ronaldo arrived on Italian shores in the summer of 2018-19.
#3 Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria) - 29 goals
The 36-year-old Sampdoria forward became the oldest Capocannoniere (top-scorer in a Serie A season) winner when he scored 26 goals in the 2018-19 season. That marked Quagliarella's best goal-haul in a Serie A season, bettering his previous best tally of 19 goals for Sampdoria in the preceding season.
Despite the forward's heroics upfront, Sampdoria failed to qualify for European competitions, finishing 9th in the table.
Quagliarella has had a slow start to 2019-20, scoring only 3 goals in 14 games, as Sampdoria find themselves a spot above the relegation zone after 17 games.
#3 Duvan Zapata (Atalanta) - 29 goals
In his first season for Atalanta, Duvan Zapata's 23 goals were only behind season top-scorer Fabio Quagliarella's tally of 26.
The Colombian striker scored hat-tricks against his former club Udinese and Frosinone as Atalanta recorded their highest-ever finish - third - in Serie A, to qualify for the Champions League for the very first time.
Zapata has scored 6 times from 7 Serie A games this season as Atalanta find themselves off the Champions League places after 16 Matchdays.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus) - 31 goals
In his debut season in the Italian top-flight, Cristiano Ronaldo recorded braces against Sassuolo, Empoli, Sampdoria and Parma en route to 21 goals, finishing 5 goals adrift of Capocannoniere winner Fabio Quagliarella.
The Portugal captain's goal at Sassuolo equaled Giuseppe Signori's single season Serie A record of most consecutive away games with at least one goal.
After a slow start to the 2019-20 season which saw him score 5 goals in his first 10 games, Ronaldo scored 5 times in his next 4 to record a double-digit league goal tally for the 14th consecutive season. The woodwork in the game against Udinese denied Ronaldo a first-ever Serie A hat-trick.
You may also like: Revisiting Ronaldo's record 15 consecutive 10-plus goal seasons in European club football
Ronaldo now has 10 Serie A goals from 14 games this season, the same tally he had managed in the previous season en route to equaling John Charles's record of being the fastest Juventus player to reach 10 Serie A goals.
The 34-year-old striker's tally of 31 goals in one and a half seasons in Italy is only bettered by one other player - the one who also tops the scoring charts in the Serie A this season.
#1 Ciro Immobile (Lazio) - 32 goals
The 2013-14 and 2017-18 Capocannoniere winner is the leading marksman in Serie A this season, having scored 17 goals from 16 games so far.
Immobile's scoring run of 9 consecutive games in 2019-20 came to an end in the game against Juventus, where Lazio became the team to hand the Old Lady their only Serie A defeat of the season.
Having scored 15 times last season, Immobile's tally of 32 goals in the Italian top-flight since the start of last season narrowly dwarfs Ronaldo's tally for Juventus during the same span.
