At the end of last year, Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo left European football for the first time in his career. The former Manchester United player, who has been in free agency status for more than a month after leaving the English club, has signed an employment contract with Saudi club Al-Nasr for an extraordinary salary of 200 million euros. however, he lost the opportunity to continue breaking records on the European continent.

It has long been known how important and meaningful any record is for Cristiano Ronaldo, because the Portuguese are so stunned by the legacy he can leave behind. Therefore, the best striker tried in every possible way to stay in Europe, willing to play even for the conditional Eintracht, just to continue to have a chance to declare himself in the Champions League.

However, the latter did not happen to Ronaldo, and he will begin to rewrite his history in Saudi Arabia, which means something – Cristiano is stunned by a new chapter in his illustrious career, while the main football rival will be Lionel Messi, the Portuguese can get even closer to key European Cup heights and some may be fully circulated in the very near future.

What kind of records and achievements is Ronaldo talking about? Let’s figure it out…

Most Champions League appearances: 183

Cristiano Ronaldo is the undisputed leader in Champions League history in terms of the number of matches played. Coming to Portugal 183, which is more than second-placed Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas (177), who played for Real and Porto but ended his career in the summer of 2020.

Lionel Messi currently has 161 matches in the Champions League. To catch up with the Portuguese, the Argentine has to play 22 more matches in the most prestigious club tournament on the European continent. To do this as soon as possible, Lionel will need to win the current Champions League draw (7 games) with PSG and do the same next season (plus 13 games) and stay in the tournament. 2024/25 season. In 2025, if Ronaldo doesn’t return to Europe and start raising, Messi may well offer this record, as rumors are already rife in the press that if Cristiano qualifies for the Champions League he will likely move to Newcastle.

Most Champions League goals: 140

Cristiano Ronaldo is also the top scorer of all time in the Champions League. Currently, the Portuguese has 140 goals scored, which is more than his followers.

Lionel Messi and here so far only have the chance to get as close to the Portuguese as possible, as it will be a daunting task for the Argentine to get around him in the next few seasons. Currently, Messi has 129 goals in the Champions League, which means that the two best strikers of our time left with 11 hits. How many goals Messi can score in the playoffs, who has already scored 4 goals in 5 games in the 2022/23 season, is a question we will learn the answer to in the coming months…

Most goals scored in a single Champions League season: 17 (2013/14)

It will be even more difficult than the previous two to surpass this success of Cristiano Ronaldo for Messi. In the 2013/14 season, the Portuguese striker scored an outstanding 17 goals when Real beat their Atlético countrymen in the final and won the cup!

Messi’s best personal record is 14 goals scored by Lionel in a Champions League draw while playing for Barcelona in the 2011/12 season. But at that time the Argentine was at the peak of his abilities, and now he is already 35 years old, so Messi will have to shake off the old days to rewrite Ronaldo’s greatest achievement.

Most goals scored in Champions League play-offs: 67

Cristiano Ronaldo also scored more goals than anyone else in the decisive stages of the Champions League. Due to Portugal’s 67 goals in the playoffs of the most prestigious club tournament on the continent, Messi has 49 hits in presence at such stages.

If Ronaldo doesn’t return to play in Europe, can the Argentinean score another 19 qualifying goals in the Champions League in the coming years? Possible in theory, but unlikely in practice.

Champions League top scorer: 7

Cristiano Ronaldo has been the top scorer in the Champions League seven times. The Portuguese did this in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, but the last time the striker took the top spot in the goal race was a long time ago.

Lionel Messi has six wins in the goal scoring stages of the Champions League, but the Argentine has been the most prolific player in the most prestigious club tournament on the European continent for quite some time in the 2018/19 season. Since then, Pole Robert Lewandowski, Norway’s Erling Haaland and France’s Karim Benzema have consistently won the goal-scoring race, but neither Ronaldo nor Messi has.

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and PSG’s Kylian Mbappe are the top scorers in the Champions League so far this season. Both have 7 goals, which is almost twice that of Messi. But the Argentine can still play in the playoffs, as in the World Cup in Qatar, and therefore can catch up with Ronaldo in this aspect at the end of this season.

Most Champions League wins: 5

Another record held by Cristiano Ronaldo (although not personally with many other Real Madrid players and former football players, notably Bale, Benzema, Isco, Casemiro, Carvajal, Kroos, Marcelo, Modric and Nacho) is the biggest. Champions League wins. Portugal has five, and Messi has four so far.

Is it an impossible task for the 35-year-old Argentine to finally win PSG the coveted trophy and activate Ronaldo? No. But will Messi be able to achieve this – we will see soon …

Only player to score in three Champions League finals

Lionel Messi is just one goal behind the former Real Madrid star in this category. The Argentinean scored two goals against Manchester United in the Champions League finals in 2009 and 2011. Apart from that, Sergio Ramos, who only plays for PSG, has two goals scored by active players in his own field in the decisive matches.

Therefore, the possible transition of the Paris giants to the Champions League final this season may give us another curiosity …

One of only two players to score in six Champions League group stage matches

Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in Champions League history to score in all six group stages in the 2017/18 season.

Then Ronaldo’s success was able to repeat Sebastian Alle, who scored in each of their group stage matches for Ajax in the 2021/22 season.

Messi will not be able to break this record, but the Argentine will have at least one chance to repeat the record as Lionel plans to continue playing for PSG next season.

Only player to score in 11 Champions League games in a row

This incredible record will most likely stay with Cristiano Ronaldo for a long time. Messi’s greatest achievement is five consecutive Champions League games in which he never leaves the field without scoring. Agree, the 35-year-old Argentine will not find the strength to attack such a feat of Portugal …

UEFA Player of the Year: 4

Ronaldo has been named UEFA Player of the Year four times (2008, 2014, 2016, 2017). Messi has three such victories (2009, 2011, 2015) and therefore the Argentine can at least equal the Portuguese, and in theory Lionel will have time to dodge him.

Another question is that, according to journalists, both Ronaldo and Messi have not been able to receive this award, which is given to the best football player of the season in Europe, for a long time. In recent years, Dutch Virgil van Dijk, Polish Robert Lewandowski, Italian Jorginho and French Karim Benzema have won the trophy while at least Egyptian Mohamed Salah, French Kylian Mbappe and Norwegian Erling Haaland have taken the trophy. never win in the nomination…

Most uefa.com Team of the Year: 15

According to UEFA’s official website, Lionel Messi was not named Team of the Year last season, but was among the best 12 times in total. Ronaldo has three more shirts available, but the Argentinean can at least increase his figure to 13 this season, especially if he maintains the excellent form he displayed at the World Cup in Qatar. And then … It seems that Messi will not stop yet, but Ronaldo in Saudi Arabia should gradually forget about recognition by UEFA.

Text: meta.ua/sport