Ranking the 5 most iconic moments of Cristiano Ronaldo’s career
Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably one of the best players to have graced the game. During a nearly two-decade-long career, he has scored goals and won trophies galore for club and country.
Ronaldo is the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid and Portugal and has also scored more goals than anybody else in the Champions League. The 36-year-old is still going strong, having recently become the first Juventus player to score 100 goals in their first three seasons at the club.
The Portugal captain has won league titles and top-scored in three different leagues - the Premier League, La Liga and Serie A - winning his first Capocannoniere award in the Italian top flight last season.
During a glorious career for club and country, Ronaldo has had several memorable moments. Let's have a look at the top five, in no particular order:
#5 Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first player to score 100 Champions League goals (2017)
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the doyens in the Champions League, carving out one impressive record after another in the competition.
The only player to score for two winning teams in the final and score in all six group-stage games in a campaign, Ronaldo achieved a significant milestone in the 2016-17 edition of the Champions League. Over the course of his hat-trick in the quarter-finals against Bayern Munich, Ronaldo became the first player to score 100 goals in the competition.
Two rounds later, thanks to Ronaldo's exploits, Real Madrid became the first team in the Champions League era to successfully defend their title. A few months later, Ronaldo would become the first player to score 100 Champions League goals for a single club.
#4 Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the first player to win five Champions League titles (2018)
Arguably enjoying his greatest Champions League season, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to score in all six group-stage games in the 2017-18 edition of the competition.
He continued his scoring streak to four more games, scoring in both legs of Real Madrid's Round of 16 and quarter-final wins. The last of those strikes came against Juventus, whom he would join later that summer.
Although Ronaldo failed to add to his staggering 15-goal tally, the then 33-year-old created more history in the competition. With Real Madrid beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player to win five Champions League titles since the competition's inception in 1992.
Incidentally, that game happened to be his last for Real Madrid, as Ronaldo left Spain to join Italian giants Juventus a few weeks later.