Ronaldo's 501 Goals: The Numbers Behind His Amazing Scoring Record
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League brace against Malmo took him to 501 goals for club and country and level with Raul as Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer.
Ronaldo’s remarkable goal haul has come in 753 appearances for Real Madrid, Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon and Portugal.
The records continue to tumble for the FIFA World Player of the Year, and here, with the help of our friends at Opta, we crunch the numbers behind his astonishing scoring feats…
Ronaldo’s recent scoring heroics have put him on 323 from 308 appearances for Madrid. His last-minute goal equalled Raul’s tally despite the Portuguese having played over 400 fewer games.
His recent five-goal haul against Espanyol and his treble against Shakhtar took him to 37 hat-tricks for club and country, and he is also five goals clear of Lionel Messi in the Champions League, with 82 goals making him the competition’s all-time leading scorer.
While the bulk of Ronaldo’s 500 goals have come in a Real Madrid shirt, he also reached triple figures for Manchester United. In six seasons at Old Trafford Ronaldo smashed 118 goals, and he previously netted five times for Sporting Lisbon as a teenager. At international level, Ronaldo has 55 goals in 122 appearances for Portugal.
Ronaldo’s lethal right foot has accounted for 326 of his total, with 90 coming on his left and 83 with his head. The 30-year-old can score all kinds of goals from all kinds of angles. Eighty-three of his total have come from outside the box, and he has also scored 81 penalties and 45 direct free kicks.
Home advantage makes little difference to Ronaldo, whose 213 away goals account for 43 per cent of his total. He has scored 272 at home, with the final 16 coming in neutral locations.
The stats also show he is most dangerous between the 76th and 90th minute, a period in which he has scored 116 goals. His second-most prolific period is the 16th-30th minute, during which he has scored 87 times.
So who are Ronaldo’s favoured opposition? Sevilla must be sick of the sight of him. The Portuguese powerhouse has scored 21 times against the Andalusian side, while he also enjoys playing against Getafe, against whom he has scored 18 goals.
Ronaldo also has a habit of scoring in El Clasico, with 15 goals against Barcelona putting them joint-third with Atletico Madrid in his list of favoured opposition. As for English teams, Ronaldo has been most prolific against Aston Villa (nine goals) and Tottenham (eight).
And what about top assist makers? Well, over the course of his career, no player has provided more goals for Ronaldo than Karim Benzema with 31. Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil ranks second having made 27 assists to Ronaldo during their four-year spell at the Bernabeu together.
Manchester United flop Angel Di Maria assisted Ronaldo 22 times, while his current team-mate Gareth Bale is on 20. At Manchester United, Ryan Giggs was his top assister with 16, while Wayne Rooney was next on 10. His former United and current international team-mate Nani is just behind Rooney on nine assists.
Ronaldo’s most prolific season was the 2011-12 campaign, when he scored 69 goals for club and country, and he has surpassed the 60-mark in each of his last two seasons.
Ronaldo’s appetite for goals is greater than ever, and Atletico Madrid will have their work cut out to stop him from adding to the 501 at the weekend…
BBC SPORTS