Cristiano Ronaldo: Professional football career, stats and records

Cristiano Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009 as a potential world beater and now returns to England as one of the greatest ever players in world football.

After nine trophy laden seasons at Real Madrid and three more with Juventus, all eyes will be on the five-time Champions League and Ballon d’Or winner, as he lines up once again at Old Trafford. Ahead of his return, we look at what makes Cristiano Ronaldo one of the best in history.

Cristiano Ronaldo stats

Name: Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro

Nationality: Portuguese

DOB: 05/02/1985

Age: 36

Total games played: 1075

Total goals scored: 785

Total assists: 227

Cristiano Ronaldo career achievements

Cristiano Ronaldo has broken records wherever he has played and must be considered among the greatest players ever to have played the game.

He honed his skills at Manchester United after joining from Sporting Lisbon in 2003, winning a first Premier League title in 2006/07 before firing in 31 goals the following season to help United reclaim the title and win the Champions League. His exploits earned him a first Ballon d’Or trophy in 2008.

After moving to Real Madrid in a then world record transfer of £80 million, Ronaldo took his form to another level as he went head-to-head with great rival Lionel Messi in La Liga. In Madrid he drew the eyes of the world as he won two La Liga’s, two Copa Del Rey’s and a record breaking four Champions League titles in a glittering nine seasons. He also became Real Madrid’s all-time leading scorer with an incredible 450 goals in 438 starts. These club and personal records propelled him to a further four Ballon d’Ors. On leaving he had without doubt established himself as one of the greatest La Liga players of all-time and a world icon.

A new challenge came calling in 2018, with Ronaldo moving in a £100 million deal to Juventus. There he continued to score goals, as the Turin side won Serie A in 2018/19 and 2019/20, with Ronaldo netting 21 and 31 goals each time. Although he failed to guide Juventus to Champions League glory, he left Italy as a winner, after scoring over 100 goals in three seasons.

However, perhaps one of Ronaldo’s greatest achievements came when winning the 2016 Euros with Portugal. He scored three times on route to the final and added international success to his many club trophies. He is the most capped Portugal player of all-time with 180, the top scorer in European Championship history and recently became the leading world goal scorer in international football with 111 goals.

What records has Cristiano Ronaldo broken?

Most UEFA Champions League goals: 134

Most goals in a UEFA Champions League season: 17 (2013/14)

Most UEFA Champions League final wins: 5

Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer: 450

Portugal all-time top scorer: 111

Most international goals in world football: 111

Only player in history to score over 100 goals for three clubs and the national team

Most European Championship goals: 14

Cristiano Ronaldo: player special odds

As his incredible stats suggest Cristiano Ronaldo is a living legend of the game and a goal machine. To find the last time he failed to score more than 20 league goals in a season you have to go all the way back to the 2012/13 season when he was still at Manchester United.

Ronaldo has changed as a player since he left Old Trafford, but he has got more effective in front of goal and you wouldn’t bet against him scoring more than 20 goals this season at odds of 11/10.

Harry Kane and Mo Salah have both won the Premier League Golden Boot in the last three seasons and are among the favourites to do so again. Currently another player returning to their old club, Romelu Lukaku, heads the market, but Ronaldo could challenge them all and is worth a look at odds of 5/1.

Ronaldo outscored Lukaku in Serie A last season with 29 goals to the Belgian’s 24, so odds of evens for him to do the same thing in the Premier League could be generous.

With five Ballon d’Or trophies, Ronaldo still trails his great rival Lionel Messi by one and the Portuguese goal machine will have eyes on levelling that record.

He remains the last player to win a Ballon d’Or while playing in the Premier League in 2008 and is 10/1 to repeat the feat this year.