5 stats which show Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer of all time
Cristiano Ronaldo loves scoring goals and we love watching him do it. No matter what the odds are, you just cannot write him off. Just as his effect on the current Manchester United side was being brought into question, Ronaldo answered back on Thursday night with a brace against Arsenal.
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers of all time
Cristiano Ronaldo is not only one of the greatest goalscorers of all time but he is also one of the greatest players to have ever graced the game. He started off as a mercurial winger at Sporting Lisbon. At Manchester United, under Sir Alex Ferguson's tutelage, Ronaldo became an unstoppable force.
He has won the Ballon d'Or five times in his career and has been very much a part of the conversation every year for more than a decade now. Even at the age of 36, Cristiano Ronaldo has been showcasing irrepressible goalscoring form and it simply defies description.
Without further ado, let's take a look at five stats which show that Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer of all time.
#5 Highest goalscorer in Champions League history
The UEFA Champions League is Cristiano Ronaldo's favourite competition by far. He has won the most coveted trophy in European club football a whopping five times. Ronaldo first won it with Manchester United in the 2007-08 season.
He then went on to win four more with Real Madrid, three of which came consecutively from 2016 to 2018. The Portuguese international is the highest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League. He has scored 140 goals in 181 appearances in the competition.
His eternal rival Lionel Messi comes second with 123 goals in 153 appearances. Ronaldo has also been the top scorer in seven editions of the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo has 3 match-winning goals in the last 15 minutes of regulation in the Champions League this season.
That is the most in a single season in Champions League history ... and it's still the group stage 🤯 https://t.co/z4JF5ppCfK
#4 Most hat-tricks in the history of international football
Cristiano Ronaldo has been in great goalscoring form for both club and country this year. He has been particularly good for Portugal this year and has been as prolific as ever and it almost feels like he has been a striker his entire career.
He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020, scoring five goals and providing an assist in four appearances in the continental competition. He kicked on in the same vein for the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in Portugal's 5-0 win over Luxembourg to make it 10 hat-tricks in international football. In doing so, he overtook Lionel Messi, who has nine international hat-tricks to his name.
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored the most hat-tricks in international football history (10) 😮 https://t.co/pQTwEVajY6