EVEN at the advancing age of 35, Cristiano Ronaldo still has his goalscoring foot fully on the throttle after raking up a new European goalscoring record in Juventus’ 2-1 win over Lazio in Serie A last night.
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The win all but ensures The Old Lady are well on their way towards clinching a ninth consecutive domestic top-flight title. Producing a fine display to lend credence to the notion, Ronaldo netted two strikes with the second coming from the penalty spot, to become the first player to score 50 goals in three of Europe’s big leagues – Premier League, La Liga and Serie A.
In addition to clocking up a half-century of goals in the Italian top-flight since his arrival in Turin in the summer of 2018, Ronaldo became the fastest player to do so since 1995. His converted spot-kick also means has equalled Giuseppe Signori’s 1994/95 record for penalty goals in a season, with 12 successful conversions from inside the area.
In his previous stints elsewhere with Real Madrid and before that Manchester United, where he arrived from Sporting Lisbon, Ronaldo raked in the plaudits by winning virtually every major domestic honour, including four Champions League titles at Madrid. But it was even before this time that the Madeira native had forged his reputation as one of the world’s best players.
He did this by initially bagging his maiden Ballon d’Or win in 2008 en route to forging a fearsome reputation for scoring goals – 118 goals in 292 games – for the Red Devils. Today, he is one among two of the deadliest attackers of the modern age. At international level, Ronaldo lies one finish short of a century, boasting an already impressive 99 goals for his country across all competitions.
Only Iran’s Ali Daei ranks higher in this regard with a mind-numbing total on the global stage. Ronaldo’s attention, as with Juventus, will very shortly turn to the Champions League last 16, where they will look to overturn a 1-0 defeat against Lyon, as they hope to reach the competition’s condensed finale in Lisbon.