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We are at the start of another year and what an exciting year 2018 has been for football fans.
We witnessed a thrilling number of events which shook the footballing world and set social media ablaze for days, ranging from Real Madrid's third consecutive triumph in the UCL to City's obliteration of the Premier League.
The mother of all events also took place this year, as Russia hosted the rest of the world with France triumphing and superstars like Kylian Mbappe, Luka Modric and Eden Hazard mesmerizing with their skilful displays.
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Manchester United and their struggles under Mourinho provided an endless source of banter online for rival fans which led to the termination of his contract, while the summer transfer window also gave us some unforeseen player sales.
One story which has dominated the footballing scene for the best part of the last decade has been the utter dominance Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had on football, setting records at will and having a personal battle to determine who the best in the world is.
Luka Modric's triumph in the individual awards of 2018 seemingly put an end to the pair's dominance, however, events since then suggest that they are far from finished as they each still raise the bar much higher than anyone else and still pave the way in terms of standards for everyone else to follow.
2018 was an eventful year for Ronaldo, as even though he performed below par (by his insanely high standards), he still set a number of incredible records to underline his greatness. In this piece, we would be taking a look in chronological order at 10 amazing records which were set by the Portuguese maestro in 2018.
#10 Only player in history to score in 11 consecutive UCL matches
Date - 11 April 2018
It has been a well established fact that Ronaldo is a goalscorer of the highest proportion and the amazing fact that he is the all-time record goalscorer for Real Madrid, Portugal as well as the Champions League is proof of that.
However, for all his greatness elsewhere, it is in the Champions League where Ronaldo has really shone the brightest, earning him the moniker 'Mr Champions League'.
Before this year, the record for most consecutive matches scored in the Champions League was nine and it was held by former Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy who did so in the colours of Manchester United between 2002 and 2003.
Ronaldo picked up a brace in the 2017 final against current employers Juventus, and that was to be the start of an amazing scoring record which lasted the entirety of last season's group stage (becoming the first player to score in all six group stage matches), before netting in both legs of the round-of-16 clash with PSG to go level with Nistelrooy.
Ronaldo made the record all his by netting a hat-trick against Juventus (again) one of which was a stunning bicycle kick which earned him the standing ovation of the fans who now sing his name to give Los Blancos a healthy 3-0 win in Turin.
In the second leg, Real Madrid found themselves tethering on the edge of elimination as Juve had somehow managed to overturn the 3-0 deficit at the Bernabeu before the home side were awarded a controversial penalty deep into stoppage time.
Amidst the fracas and mayhem caused by the decision (which led to Buffon receiving a red card), Ronaldo still showed great composure to slot the ball in the back of the net from the spot which was the 11th consecutive UCL match he scored in and sent Real to the semi-final.
Unfortunately, the streak was ended as he failed to find them back of the net again, but that takes nothing away from the amazing feat he achieved by pulling this off.
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#9 Scoring 15 UCL goals for the third time in his career
Date - 11 April 2018
It turned out to be that Ronaldo's dramatic injury time penalty in the 3-1 loss to Juventus broke not one but two records, as it took the 33-year-old to 15 goals in last season's tournament, which was enough to see him finish as the Champions League top scorer for the 6th consecutive season (shared jointly with Messi and Neymar in 2015)
Ronaldo is the only player to have scored 15+ goals in a single Champions League season, which he first achieved in 2014 (17). Incredibly, he has gone on to record this feat a further two times (2016 and last season).
To put that in perspective, Ronaldo outscored European giants such as Atletico Madrid (5), Manchester United (12), while scoring the same number as Chelsea did in the Champions League last season which underlies just how dominant the Portuguese is when it comes to Europe's premier club competition.
# 8 Record UCL appearance for an outfield player
Date - 1 May 2018
By stepping foot onto the field at the Santiago Bernabeu for the second leg clash against Bayern Munich in last season's UCL semi-final, Ronaldo set another personal milestone for himself.
That was his 152nd appearance in the most prestigious club tournament which moved him one above former Barcelona icon Xavi Hernandez who turned out 151 times for the Blaugrana.
The Bavarians would have had nightmares over facing Ronaldo, as the last time the Portuguese came up against them, he put up a virtuoso performance in a five-goal show which eliminated the Bundesliga giants.
Even though, he failed to stamp his authority on the clash with Benzema and Ulreich grabbing the headlines instead, Ronaldo still cemented his place in history as the outfield player with the most appearances.
He has since added six more outings to his belt and is currently on 157 in total, which puts him just 15 behind Iker Casillas on 173 who holds the overall record.
#7 First player to win five UCL titles
Date - 26 May 2018
Great players win the biggest tiles and since the Champions League is the biggest club football title in the world, the fact that Ronaldo has won it already places him in the annals of history, never mind the fact that he has done so on five occasions.
For all of Ronaldo's greatness, it was not always so, as the Portuguese started poorly in the tournament, not scoring his first goal until four years and 26 matches after making his UCL debut in the 7-1 riot of Porto in the Champions League quarter-final in 2007.
He had his first taste of victory in the tournament a season later as United triumphed over Chelsea on penalties and has since gone on to achieve legendary status in the competition with Real Madrid.
The victory over Liverpool in May meant Ronaldo has lifted 'The Big Ears' on five occasions, which is more than anyone else has managed. Although Real Madrid legend Francisco Gento had six triumphs in the early days of the tournament, but none has more than Ronaldo since the competition was rebranded in 1992.
#6 First European to score in nine consecutive international tournaments
Date - 15 June 2018
Ronaldo burst onto the scene as a skinny baby-faced 19-year-old at the European Championship held in his home country of Portugal. He starred, scoring two goals and providing two assists in an eventual second-place finish for Portugal and was voted into the team of the tournament for his exploits.
The tears he exhibited at full-time of the 0-1 loss to Greece in the final was heart-wrenching and showed early signs of the desire to always win which has been a hallmark of his career since then.
Few could have predicted the kind of career Ronaldo would go on to have, going on to cement his legacy as one of the all-time greats.
His first goal (of an eventual hat-trick) in Portugal's 3-3 opening draw with Spain was the ninth consecutive international tournament since EURO 2004.
His goals count at major international tournaments reads - EURO 2004 (2), 2006 World Cup (1), EURO 2008 (1), 2010 World Cup (1), EURO 2012 (3), 2014 World Cup (1), EURO 2016 (3), 2017 Confederations Cup (2), 2018 World Cup (4).
Even though Ghanian international also achieved the feat (doing so before Ronaldo), Cristiano Ronaldo is the only European player to have achieved this unique distinction.
#5 Oldest hat-trick scorer in World Cup history
Date - 15 June 2018
As mentioned earlier, Ronaldo got a hat-trick in Portugal's opening match at the 2018 World Cup in a thrilling 3-3 encounter with Spain, with the Spanish players finding a regular thorn in the form of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 33-year-old was on hand to capitalize from a clumsy foul in early moments of the game to convert from the penalty spot, before seeing a tame shot deflected into the net by David de Gea for his second of the match.
Real Madrid defender Nacho scored what he thought was the winner for La Furia Roja in the 58th minute with an exquisitely taken volley in the 58th minute as Sapin held on until the dying embers of the match when Ronaldo stood ahead of a free kick.
He struck the ball sweetly beyond the despairing dive of David de Gea to hand Portugal a draw with what was his 51st career hat-trick.
With his trio of goals, Ronaldo became the oldest player to score a hat-trick at the World Cup, breaking the previous record of Rob Rensenbrink, who was nearly 31 at the 1978 World Cup.
#4 Highest scoring European international
Date - 20 June 2018
Ronaldo has been a match winner throughout his career and at the World Cup, he emphasized that point once more with his displays.
After his starring role in Portugal's draw with Spain on the opening day, the legend was once more at it, getting the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Morocco in Portugal's second match with a header to hand the Iberian nation all three points which aided their qualification.
The goal moved him onto 85 goals form 154 appearances which pushed him ahead of Ferenc Puskas who scored 84 for Hungary and made him the highest scoring European international in history.
Ronaldo now finds himself second only to Iran's Ali Daei who netted 109 times for the Asian nation and even though logic might suggest that is a landmark to far for Ronaldo to attain, going by his precedents, it would be unwise to bet against that.
#3 Most expensive player above the age of 30
Date - 10 July 2018
Not many foresaw the gargantuan transfer deal which meant Cristiano Ronaldo traded Real Madrid for Juventus in a record breaking deal.
Juventus shelled out €112m to price the superstar away from Real and this made him the most expensive player over the age of 30 in history. The deal was also the highest fee received by an Italian club, while also making him the fourth most expensive player of all time in all categories.
Ronaldo knows what it feels like to be so costly, having held the record for the most expensive player in history for four seasons following his 2009 transfer from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
Many people might have scoffed at Juventus for spending such an amount on a player perceived to be past his prime, but owing to Ronaldo's displays so far, the move has proved to be immensely beneficial to Juventus both from marketing and sporting perspective.
#2 Fastest player in Juventus history to score 10 goals in his debut season
Date - 24 November 2018
Despite starting his Juventus career rather slowly - not scoring for his first four matches for the Bianconerri, Ronaldo finally opened his Juve account in the game against Sassuolo on matchday 4 and since then he has not looked back.
He scored seven goals over his next 10 Serie A matches, and with his opener in the 2-0 victory over SPAL in November, Ronaldo moved onto 10 goals for Juventus in all competitions (with nine coming in the league and one in the UCL).
Incredibly, it took him just 16 matches to do so, which meant he was the fastest player in Juventus history to achieve that milestone.
By contrast, legendary Juventus strikers such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic (30 matches), David Trezeguet (29), Gonzalo Higuain (20 matches), Filippo Inzaghi (18) needed more matches to notch up 10 goals for the Old Lady of Turin.
#1 First player in history to win 100 UCL Matches
Date - 27 November 2018
With 122 goals, Ronaldo is the all-time record goalscorer in the Champions League, and earlier on became the first man in history to score 100 Champions League goals with one club (a feat now shared with Messi).
His superhuman performances on the continent had been immensely crucial to Real Madrid winning each of the last three UCL titles consecutively, as Ronaldo always found a way to lift himself on the biggest stages to deliver the goods for his team.
It is for this reason that he earned himself the moniker 'Mr. Champions League' and Juventus would be grateful to no longer have to come up against him, having felt the wrath of his boot on 10 occasions (which is the most he has scored against any opponent in the competition).
It, therefore, should not come as a surprise to anybody that till date he remains the only man to have tasted 100 Champions League victories, with the icon achieving the milestone in Juve's 1-0 victory over Valencia.
As expected, Ronaldo could not let such a momentous occasion pass him by without stamping his authority (even though he was not on the scoresheet) setting up Mandzukic for the only goal of the game and as long as he is in their ranks, Juventus would fancy their chances of ending their long drought in the competition where Ronald has reigned supreme.
