MORE ON CRISTIANO RONALDO
2002/03: Sporting Lisbon - 31 apps, 5 goals
Honours: Portuguese Super Cup
Ronaldo bags two goals in his Primera Liga debut against Moreirense in October, aged 17. The following month, he meets Arsene Wenger at the Arsenal training ground, but a move doesn’t materialise.
2003/04: Manchester United - 40 apps, 6 goals
Honours: FA Cup
After impressing Sir Alex Ferguson in a pre-season friendly, frosted-tipped Ronaldo signs for Manchester United for £12.24 million, a record for a teenager in English football. Ferguson calls him “one of the most exciting players he’s ever seen.” He also wins his first, and only FA Cup, starting in the final.
2004/05: Manchester United - 50 apps, 9 goals
Honours: None
United sign another coveted teenager, Euro 2004 star Wayne Rooney, who beats him to PFA Young Player of the Year. Ronaldo scores his penalty as United lose to Arsenal in an FA Cup final shootout.
2005/06: Manchester United - 47 apps, 12 goals
Honours: League Cup
Arguably his most controversial season - he flips off Benfica fans, gets sent off in the Manchester derby for kicking Andy Cole and is lambasted by Ruud van Nistelrooy for showboating. His clash with Rooney during the World Cup leads to an unsuccessful transfer request.
2006/07: Manchester United - 53 apps, 23 goals
Honours: Premier League, PFA Player of the Season, PFA Young Player of the Season
A season beginning with Ronaldo getting booed by Premier League fans in the wake of his role in Rooney’s World Cup red card, turns into his breakout year, scoring 17 Premier League goals.
2007/08: Manchester United - 49 apps, 42 goals
Honours: Premier League, Champions League, Community Shield, European Golden Shoe, PFA Player of the Season
A preview of the kind of goalscoring numbers Ronaldo would hit in his prime, his brilliant form helps United to a first Champions League since 1999, despite missing a penalty in the decisive shootout against Chelsea.
2008/09: Manchester United - 53 apps, 26 goals
Honours: Premier League, Club World Cup, League Cup, Ballon d’Or
Summer 2008 is dominated by speculation of a transfer to Real Madrid, with Sepp Blatter describing United’s refusal to sell as “like modern slavery.” In December, he wins his first Ballon d’Or of many. In April, he scores a long-range goal against Porto that will secure him the Puskas Award the following season.
2009/10: Real Madrid - 35 apps, 33 goals
Honours: Puskas Award
Ronaldo joins Real Madrid for a record £80 million - his presentation was attended by more than 80,000 fans, breaking a 25-year attendance record set when Diego Maradona joined Napoli.
2010/11: Real Madrid - 54 apps, 53 goals
Honours: Copa del Rey, European Golden Shoe
Taking the No. 7 shirt off the departed Raul, he returns to his 2007/08 form, becoming the first player in La Liga to surpass 40 goals in a season.
2011/12: Real Madrid - 55 apps, 60 goals
Honours: La Liga
Ronaldo’s goal-scoring touch continues - he scores 60 across all competitions and helps Madrid to a first league title in four years with a record 100 points.
2012/13: Real Madrid - 55 apps, 55 goals
Honours: Supercopa de Espana
Ronaldo scores his first Champions League hat-trick against Ajax - earlier in his career, he failed to score until his first 30th appearance in the competition. He finishes second in what would be Lionel Messi’s fourth Ballon d’Or in a row.
2013/14: Real Madrid - 47 apps, 51 goals
Honours: Champions League, Copa del Rey, Ballon d’Or, European Golden Shoe, La Liga Best Player
Gareth Bale’s arrival in Madrid breaks Ronaldo’s transfer record and helps Madrid end a 12-year wait for La Decima, their 10th Champions League title. At last, he wrangles the Ballon d’Or back from Messi.
2014/15: Real Madrid - 54 apps, 61 goals
Honours: UEFA Super Cup, Club World Cup, Ballon d’Or, European Golden Shoe
His most prolific goal-scoring season to date, he becomes the fastest player to reach 200 La Liga goals, taking only 178 games.
2015/16: Real Madrid - 48 apps, 51 goals
Honours: Champions League, Euro 2016
Ronaldo surpasses Raul as the club’s all-time top goalscorer with his 324th goal for Madrid. A near-perfect summer sees Ronaldo win the Champions League then the Euros with Portugal, despite spending much of the final injured, coaching his side from the dugout.
2016/17: Real Madrid - 46 apps, 42 goals
Honours: Champions League, La Liga, Club World Cup, Ballon d’Or
Ronaldo becomes the first player to score 100 goals in the Champions League, although Messi follows him soon after.
2017/18: Real Madrid - 44 apps, 44 goals
Honours: Champions League, Club World Cup, UEFA Super Cup, Supercopa de Espana, Ballon d’Or
In his final season for Madrid, he nets a gravity-defying bicycle kick against Juventus, sending Madrid on their way to complete an era of total European dominance, with three consecutive Champions League trophies.
2018/19: Juventus - 43 apps, 28 goals
Honours: Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana, Serie A Footballer of the Year
Ronaldo joined Juventus for just under £100 million, the highest ever fee for a player over 30. He wins Serie A Footballer of the Year, despite finishing the year five goals short of 36-year-old Fabio Quagriella.
2019/20: Juventus - 46 apps, 37 goals
Honours: Serie A, Supercoppa Italiana, Serie A Most Valuable Player
Juventus pip Inter Milan to the title. Ciro Immobile beats him to a Golden Boot and despite Ronaldo's best efforts in a second-leg Champions League tie against Lyon, Juve crash out of the Champions League quarters. Maurizio Sarri pays for the failure with his job.
2020/21: Juventus - 20 apps, 20 goals
Honours: Supercoppa Italiana
CR7 is struck down with COVID-19, but returns to slay Lionel Messi one more time in an empty Camp Nou during the Champions League group stage. In January, he becomes the all-time top scorer in footballing history with his 760th strike – a yard-out volley in the Super Coppa Italiana against Napoli.
760 - Cristiano Ronaldo759 - Josef Bican757 - Pele743 - Romario719 - Lionel MessiThe record-breaking goal for CR7! 📈 pic.twitter.com/kivED5nB10January 20, 2021
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