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Cristiano Ronaldo was awarded a special honor for being the highest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League during the Champions League 2024-25 Draw on Thursday (August 29).
The next day, the Al-Nassr forward posted a video of himself alongside the Champions League trophy, captioning:
"Best friends forever. 183 matches, 140 goals, 5 [trophy emoji]."
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Cristiano Ronaldo's never-ending records in the UEFA Champions League justify his title as Mr. Champions League. The Portuguese No. 7 has been a part of six Champions League finals, winning five of them.
Ronaldo is the highest scorer in the history of the tournament with 140 goals in 183 appearances. The Portuguese is also the highest scorer in the UCL knockout stages (67) and has won the top scorer award in seven editions - more than any player in history.
Cristiano Ronaldo holds the record for scoring the most goals in a single edition of the Champions League (17 in UCL 2013-14) and has scored 10 or more goals in seven consecutive iterations of the tournament.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also leads the pack in terms of assists, recording 48 assists in 183 games. These stats infer that Ronaldo has made a goal contribution once every 88.1 minutes in the competition.
"For me, it is a pleasure to be here. Thank you for this amazing award," said Ronaldo after receiving the honor. "As you know, Champions League is the highest in football. The records speak for themselves but the league (is at that level) because of the players that play in the competition."
The Portugal talisman concluded by saying:
"I have nice memories coming to his gala and football is managed by memories. So, thank you for this."
Cristiano Ronaldo reminds Gianluigi Buffon of an iconic UCL goal during the Champions League draw
Gianluigi Buffon was also invited to the Champions League draw and was awarded the UEFA President's Award. During the ceremony, Cristiano Ronaldo apologized to the Italian veteran for his iconic overhead kick goal during the Champions League 2017-18 quarter-final.
Real Madrid clashed against Juventus in the first leg in Turin. The match ended with a 3-0 win for the Los Blancos courtesy of a wondergoal by Ronaldo. Just after the hour mark, Dani Carvajal sent a looping cross into the penalty box from the right. Ronaldo soared up into the air and went for the bicycle kick.
All players were dumbfounded for a moment as the ball entered the net past Buffon. Even the Juventus fans stood up to appreciate the wondergoal by Cristiano Ronaldo.
Gianluigi Buffon opened up about the moments following the overhead kick in a 2019 interview [via Mirror].
"After about 25 seconds of normal frustration over the goal I conceded, I thought about what he had done to me, something really great. I asked him, 'Cristiano, how old are you?' and he told me, 'not bad for a 33-year-old, right?'" recalled Buffon.
Real Madrid went on to win that edition of the Champions League by beating Liverpool 3-1 in the final.
