5 Scoring records within Cristiano Ronaldo's reach | UEFA Champions League 2019/20
After taking 26 games to open his Champions League scoring, Cristiano Ronaldo has racked up a tally of 126 goals, which is the most by any player in the history of the European Cup/Champions League.
Among a slew of scoring records in the competition, Ronaldo is the only player to score in all six group games (2017-18 season for Real Madrid), the first player to score 100 goals in the competition (April 2017) and the first player to score 100 goals for one club (February 2018).
The Portuguese marksman has the most home goals (66) and most away goals (56) in the competition, and has scored four times in Champions League finals (2008, 2014, 2017).
With Ronaldo showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, here are five scoring records within touching distance for the former Manchester United man this season as he strives to win Juventus' first European Cup in 23 years.
#1. First player to score in 15 successive Champions League seasons
Raul Gonzalez, Karim Benzema, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo are part of an exclusive quartet to find the net in 14 consecutive Champions League seasons.
While Raul did so for Real Madrid and Schalke from 1997-98 to 2010-11, the trio of Benzema, Messi, and Ronaldo has scored in every Champions League season since 2005-06.
Ronaldo has scored his Champions League goals for three different clubs (Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus). The Portuguese talisman is the only player to have scored at least 10 goals in 7 successive seasons (for Real Madrid from 2011-12 to 2017-18).
With Benzema in action for Real Madrid and Messi leading the charge for Barcelona, Ronaldo would look to hit the ground running for Juventus and strive to become the first player to score in 15 successive Champions League seasons.
#2. First player to score 10 Champions League hattricks
Both Messi and Ronaldo have scored eight hattricks apiece in the Champions League. While Messi has scored all of his hattricks for Barcelona, Ronaldo has scored 7 hattricks for Real Madrid and one for Juventus.
The Portuguese marksman's three hattricks during the 2015-16 are the most in a Champions League season.
Ronaldo is the only player to score four hattricks in the knockout round of the competition, with his most recent one coming in the second leg of Juventus' Round of 16 clash with Atletico Madrid last season, where the Bianconeri overhauled a 0-2 first-leg deficit to move into the quarterfinals. In the process, Ronaldo became the oldest player to score a hattrick in the competition.
As Messi and Ronaldo resume their battle for the top scorer in Europe this season, Ronaldo would hope to steal a march on the diminutive Argentine and become the first player to score ten Champions League hattricks.
#3. Most group-stage goals
Ronaldo has scored 61 (of his 126 goals) in the group stage of the Champions League, which is second to Messi's tally of 66.
With a record 65 goals in the knockout stages of the competition, Ronaldo is only five behind his great rival, as he seeks for most goals in the group stage of the competition as well.
#4. Five goals in a match
Lionel Messi (Barcelona) and Luiz Adriano (Shakhtar Donetsk) are the only players in the Champions League era to score 5 goals in a match, doing so in 2011-12 against Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the 2011-12 Round of 16 and BATE Borisov in the 2014-15 group stage respectively.
Ronaldo's best goals tally in a Champions League match is 4, which he scored for Real Madrid against Malmo in a 2015-16 group stage game.
#5. First player to score for three teams in the final
Velibor Vasovic (for Partizan Belgrade in 1966 and Ajax in 1969), Cristiano Ronaldo (for Manchester United in 2008 and Real Madrid in 2014, 2017), and Mario Mandzukic (for Bayern Munich in 2013 and Juventus in 2017) are the only players in the history of the European Cup/Champions League to score for two different teams in the final.
Of the trio, Ronaldo is the only one to score for two different title-winning teams in the final.
If Juventus reach the Champions League final this season and Ronaldo finds the net in the game, the Portuguese would become the first player to score for three different teams in European Cup/Champions League finals.