Football : 10 greatest records held by Cristiano Ronaldo
10. Fastest La Liga player to 200 goals (178 games)
We’ll start with some of Ronaldo’s brilliance with Real Madrid.
He made the art of goal scoring look effortlessly easy with Los Blancos and most of the time, La Liga was his playground.
Scoring 200 goals in 178 games (1.12 goals-per-game) is outrageous and it’s a record that will not be equalled anytime soon.
9. Most goals scored in Champions League semi-finals (13 goals)
The best players thrive on the biggest stages and that sentiment has never been truer than with Ronaldo.
To mere mortals, the prospect of a Champions League semi-final is daunting, but the Portuguese seems to go up a gear.
His most memorable display in the last-four has to be his breathtaking hat-trick against city rivals Atletico in 2016/17.
8. Most goals by a Man Utd player in a single 38-game season (31 goals, 2007/08)
Now, 31 goals is far from Ronaldo’s most prolific league season – he once scored 48 in a single La Liga campaign with Real Madrid.
But this record is definitive proof of his ability to dominate in what many believe is the toughest league in the world.
Manchester United have had some great strikers during the Premier League era, but it’s Ronaldo who still holds the historic record. A freak of nature in front of goal.
7. Most consecutive Champions League away games scored in (12 games)
Travelling away from home in European competition is meant to be hard.
However, Ronaldo’s psyche and talent seem to block out any notion of difficulty, even at such a ridiculously high level.
Surely a record that will not be broken again for decades – yes, another one.
6. First player in history to score 30+ league goals in a major European league in six consecutive seasons
The hallmark of consistency.
Even Messi has dipped below the 30-goal mark in recent league seasons, scoring 28 in 2013/14 and 26 in 2015/16.
But not Ronaldo. Between 2010/11 and 2015/16, the Portuguese eclipsed the 30-goal mark every single time, scoring 234 goals in just 207 games – he scored 40+ goals in three of those six seasons as well!
5. Fastest player ever to score 350 goals for one club in Europe’s top five leagues (338 games)
Yet another record that isn’t going to be surpassed anytime soon.
The likes of Messi and Gerd Muller are no match for Ronaldo’s record for Real Madrid in all competitions.
His £80m move to the Spanish capital has to fall into the category of ‘football’s biggest bargains’ these days.
4. Best goal-to-game ratio in La Liga history (1.065 goals-per-game)
Messi may have scored the most goals in the history of Spain’s top-flight, but he’ll likely never be able to boast an average quite like this.
In total, Ronaldo ended his La Liga career in the summer of 2017 with 311 goals and 95 assists to his name in just 292 games.
3. Biggest winning margin in Ballon d’Or history (429 points, 2016)
In December 2016, there was zero doubt in the minds of anyone that Ronaldo would win the Ballon d’Or.
He’d guided Portugal to success at Euro 2016 and Real Madrid had secured another Champions League crown in 2015/16.
But to beat Messi by 429 points is still a remarkable achievement. Even during the era of their duopoly, Ronaldo managed to record the most one-sided Ballon d’Or win ever, impressive stuff.
2. Only player to score 60+ goals in a calendar year for for four consecutive years (2011-2014)
For most world-class strikers in the modern game, scoring 60 goals or more in a single year would be an achievement like no other.
Only Ronaldo could make the feat look like another day at the office.
Messi’s record of scoring 91 goals in a SINGLE calendar year is one of sport’s greatest ever achievements, but this from Ronaldo deserves to be heralded in a similar manner.
1. Most goals in a single European Cup campaign (17 goals, 2013/14)
We said the top five was mighty tough to rank and choosing a number one was nigh on impossible.
But how could it not be this ridiculous goal scoring accomplishment?!
Many thought the concept of 15 goals by one player in a single Champions League campaign was outrageous, but Ronaldo did just that and added two more on top for good measure.
He is the only man to reach the 15-goal mark in the competition and he’s now done it on three separate occasions, including four goals in finals!
