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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Tom White

A closer look at Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring record for former clubs and country

Cristiano Ronaldo has joined Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr following his release from Manchester United.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the 37-year-old’s scoring record for United, Real Madrid, Juventus, Sporting Lisbon and Portugal.

Sporting Lisbon

Appearances: 31Goals: 5

The future Portugal star played just one senior season in his homeland, demonstrating his potential with a handful of goals, while only turning 18 late in the campaign.

Manchester United

Appearances: 340Goals: 144

Those early flashes of promise earned him a move to Old Trafford, where he flourished first as a flying winger before adding regular goals to his game.

He hit double figures for the first time in 2005-06 before three-successive seasons of 20-plus goals, peaking with 31 in the Premier League and 42 in all competitions in 2007-08.

His first spell brought a total of 118 goals in 293 games to persuade Real Madrid to part with a then-world record 94million euros (£80m).

After returning to Manchester last season, Ronaldo hit 18 league goals and six in the Champions League. This season brought only a league goal against Everton – his 700th in club football – and two in the Europa League against Sheriff Tiraspol.

Real Madrid

Appearances: 438Goals: 450

It was as Real’s latest – and perhaps greatest – ‘galactico’ from 2009 to 2018 that Ronaldo grew into the feared central striker he has become, as his rivalry with then-Barcelona star Lionel Messi saw both men achieve scarcely believable scoring rates.

Ronaldo had six straight seasons of scoring over 50 goals in all competitions from 2010-11, netting a goal a game or better in all but the first and astonishingly maintaining such a record over his nine-year spell as a whole.

His best season brought him 61 in 54 games in 2014-15, surpassing his 60 in 55 in 2011-12. He went on to beat Raul’s club records of 228 league goals and 323 in all competitions, became the Champions League’s record scorer – having previously set the single-season record with 17 in 2013-14 – and reached 500 career goals for club and country.

His 311 LaLiga goals rank second to Messi and he won two league titles and three Pichichi trophies as LaLiga’s top scorer, with four Champions Leagues and four Ballons d’Or to take his personal total to five of each.

Juventus

Appearances: 134Goals: 101

While not matching the extraordinary heights of his time in Spain, Ronaldo remained a 30-goal-a-season striker in his three years with Juve and helped them to two league titles and a Coppa Italia.

He scored 28 goals in his debut season then 37 and 36, bringing up his century in a 3-1 win at Sassuolo in his penultimate league appearance. He was named Serie A footballer of the year for 2019 and 2020 and won an Outstanding Career Achievement honour at FIFA’s 2021 The Best awards.

Portugal

Appearances: 196Goals: 118

Ronaldo has more international goals and caps than any male footballer in history, surpassing Ahmed Hassan’s 184 appearances for Egypt and Ali Daei’s 109 goals for Iran.

He is the only man to score at five separate World Cups – after his penalty against Ghana last month – and helped his country win Euro 2016 even as injury forced him off early in the final.

His 10 international hat-tricks include four goals in a game against both Andorra and Lithuania, in qualifying for the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020 respectively.

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