On This Day: Cristiano Ronaldo Made His Champions League Debut And The Rest Became History
It has been 17 years since Cristiano Ronaldo made his UEFA Champions League debut with Manchester United, and the 17 years have turned to years of breaking records. Ronaldo has become arguably the greatest player in Champions League history after gracing the competition for the 17 action-filled years!
Cristiano Ronaldo made his Champions League debut on October 1 in the 2003-04 season with Manchester United after signing from Sporting Lisbon.
Cristiano, just 18, then, started and played full 90 minutes of Manchester United’s group stage game against Stuttgart in the Champions League competition.
Although United lost his debut match, Cristiano Ronaldo made some thrilling flashes in the encounter. He earned a penalty, which was converted by Ruud Van Nistelrooy to give Manchester United their only goal of the night in the 2-1 loss.
Ever since his debut, Ronaldo has gone to win the one of the most coveted trophies in the world football five times in total (on one occasion with Manchester United and four times with Spanish giants Real Madrid).
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The five-time Ballon d’Or winner also boasts of several records in the competition, which includes most goals (130), most goals scored in a single season (17), the first player to reach the 100 Champions League goal mark, the only player to have scored in three Champions League finals, and joint-most final appearances (6).
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League Records After Making His Debut 17 Years Ago
Below are the records Cristiano Ronaldo boasts in Champions League competition since after making his debut in the 2003-04 season with Manchester United.
- Most titles
- Most goals
- The highest number of assists
- Most wins
- Most goals in one season
- Highest top scorer awards
- The highest number of knockout stage goals
- Most final goals
- Most consecutive games with a goal
- Joint-most hat-tricks.
It has been a historical 17-year reign by the Portugal international with many beautiful moments and highlights, including great goals that broke tens of years of records!
Do you think Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest Champions League player of all-time? Feel free to share your opinion with us via our comments section below!
