Cristiano Ronaldo bags another record as Juventus clinches Champions League qualification in a startling fashion

Cristiano Ronaldo bags another record as Juventus clinches Champions League qualification in a startling fashion

Cristiano Ronaldo

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo finished the 2020-21 campaign as Serie A’s top scorer to become the only player to achieve the feat in the Premier League, La Liga and the Serie A, Italy’s top flight.

The Portuguese icon was an unused substitute as Juventus beat Bologna 4-1 away to snatch a Champions League spot from Napoli, who were held by Hellas Verona at home. Cristiano Ronaldo had earlier become the fastest player in Juventus history to reach 100 goals with the club, when he reached the mark by scoring just before half-time against Sassuolo, in just 131 games.

Cristiano Ronaldo has become the first player to finish as the top scorer for a season in Serie A, LaLiga and the Premier League

Ronaldo embraces Dybala as Juventus secure Champions League qualification
Ronaldo embraces Dybala as Juventus secure Champions League qualification

Despite missing a league game for just the fifth time in 2020-21, Ronaldo finished on 29 goals, five more than his nearest rival, Inter striker Romelu Lukaku, as the Bianconeri outfit finished the season in fourth place. Ronaldo has now become the first player to finish as the top scorer for a season in Serie A, LaLiga and the Premier League.

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In Ronaldo’s third season in Italy, he has won the Capocannoniere(Serie A’s top Scorer) race for the first time after since missing out on previous two times, having scored 21 in 2018-19, and ultimately finishing five behind Fabio Quagliarella, and 31 in the following campaign to trail eventual European Golden Shoe winner Lazio’s Ciro Immobile who had 36. Only Lionel Messi (30) and Robert Lewandowski (41) have scored more top-flight goals this season than Ronaldo among Europe’s top-five leagues.

In total, Ronaldo has scored 81 Serie A goals in 97 appearances since joining Juventus from Madrid in 2018, at least 10 more than any other player in that time and 101 in total from 134 games. Ronaldo also won back-to-back Serie A Footballer of the Year awards in 2019 and 2020. He is also Juventus’ top-scorer this season in all competitions.

Ronaldo was the Premier League’s top goal scorer in 2007-08 while at Manchester United with 31 goals, which helped him win his first Ballon d’Or later that year. He scored 42 in all competitions as United won the league and Ronaldo’s first Champions League. In total, he scored 118 goals in 292 appearances for United before leaving to join Real Madrid in 2009. While in England, he twice won the Players’ Player of the Year and Football Writers awards in 2006-07 and 2007-08.

Ronaldo had also won the Pichichi trophy for La Liga’s top scorer on three occasions, with the first coming in the 2010-11 season, when he scored 40 goals as Madrid finished second to Barcelona. He was top scorer again in 2013-14 as he scored 31 times. That season, he won both the Champions League and Ballon d’Or award for the second time in his career. It was also the only time he was named La Liga Best Player. The following campaign, he again won the Pichichi after scoring 48 goals, but missed on the Ballon d’Or as Lionel Messi helped Barca to a La Liga, Copa and Champions League treble.

Ronaldo left Madrid for Juventus in 2018 as Los Blancos‘ all-time leading scorer with 450 goals in 438 appearances. In La Liga, he netted 311 times in just 292 games, and is a four time Champions league winner with Real, taking his personal tally to five.

The Portugal international is also the top scorer in Champions League history with 134 goals and has also been the leading scorer in seven different editions, more than any other player. Ronaldo has won the European Golden Shoe on four occasions (the last coming in 2014-15), which is second only to Messi, who has six. In addition, Ronaldo has also become the first player in history to tally more than 100 goals with three different clubs and his national team, having done so with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal and now Juventus.

It is now to see whether Juventus and Serie A’s leading talisman this season is to continue his pursuit of glory with Juventus, after they have finally secured Champions League qualification or leaves for a lucrative offer, with top clubs like Manchester United and PSG looking to secure his services, as even a return to Real Madrid is not entirely off the books.

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