Portugal’s top scorer in the history of the Champions League with 134 goals, Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo will compete in the competition for the 19th consecutive time and at the opening of the 2021/22 edition he will break another record as the player with the most matches in the tournament (177) alongside former Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas .
At the age of 36, the striker made his debut with Manchester United last Saturday (11), when he scored two goals in the 4-1 defeat to Newcastle in the Premier League. Now, he’s back on the field with the English side 12 years later as he marches steadily in search of a new record in the European competition: to be the greatest champion.
With 5 trophies on his back – one for Manchester United in 2008 and four more for Real Madrid (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018) – the CR7 could match Spaniard Paco Gento, former European Cup champion with Real Madrid in 1956, 1957, 1958 , 1959, 1960 and 1966.
In the group stage of the Champions League, Cristiano Ronaldo could also set some other personal records. With 93 games played, he lags behind Casillas (95), the player with the most matches at this stage since 1992/93. With 67 games, the Portuguese is four goals away from Messi’s equation, the top scorer in the group stage with 71 goals.
With 11 goals scored in this group stage in 2015/2016, Cristiano Ronaldo remains the top scorer at this stage of the Champions League. With a 14 goal difference from Messi overall (134 to 120), the Portuguese, who is two years older than the Argentine, is struggling to maintain the top spot in the overall artillery.
Most played matches in the history of the Champions League (1955-2021):
177- Iker Casillas (Spain)
176- Cristiano Ronaldo (Por)
151- Ali
149 – Messi (Argentina)
142 – Raul (ESP)
141 – Giggs (GAL)
130 – Benzema (France)
130 – Iniesta (Spain)
129- Sergio Ramos (Spain)
128- Maldini (ETA)
125- Seedorf (Spain)
124- Buffon (ITA)
124- Paul Scholes (ING)
124- Thomas Muller (ALE)
120 – Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
120 – Ibrahimovic (Sweden)
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