Top 10 most memorable Cristiano Ronaldo performances of the decade
Cristiano Ronaldo has been one of the standout performers for club and country in the decade that was 2010 to 2019.
During nine fruitful seasons at Real Madrid, Ronaldo broke a plethora of records. The Portuguese marksman became the club's all-time leading goal-scorer and also the first player to tally 100 Champions League goals for a single club.
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Joining Italian giants Juventus in the summer of 2018-19, a 33-year-old Ronaldo commanded the highest transfer fee ever paid by an Italian club and also the highest by a club for any player over 30 years old. Although a Serie A hat-trick has proved elusive in one and a half seasons, Ronaldo has continued breaking new ground in the Champions League.
A record-equaling 8th hat-trick in the competition helped the Bianconeri overturn a two-goal first-leg deficit to beat Atletico Madrid in the 2018-19 Round of 16. Ronaldo then scored both of Juventus' goals over each leg of the quarterfinals against Ajax, but the Bianconeri fell to a 2-3 aggregate defeat which ended their European ambitions for the season.
In 2019-20, Ronaldo scored against a then record-equaling 33rd different opposition team in the competition and narrowly failed to become the first to score against 34 different teams when his goal-bound free-kick against Lokomotiv Moscow was inadvertently prodded over the line by teammate Aaron Ramsey. Juventus' 1-3 defeat to Lazio in the 2019-20 Supercoppa Italiana final ended Ronaldo's stunning run of 14 consecutive final wins, but he closed 2019 among the top-5 scorers for club and country during the year.
Let us now have a look at Ronaldo's 10 most memorable performances for club or country during the period 2010-2019.
#1 2009-10 LaLiga: Real Mallorca 1-4 Real Madrid
After Aritz Aduriz had opened the scoring for the hosts, Ronaldo's equaliser midway through the second half leveled proceedings for the visitors. The Portugal international scored twice in the second half to register his first Liga hat-trick in his first season at the club.
Gonzalo Higuain scored the fourth as Madrid returned from Mallorca following a comfortable 4-1 win on the road.
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