Analysing Cristiano Ronaldo's 501 career goals so far

Cristiano Ronaldo, the footballing phenomenon.

Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly amongst the greatest players to ever grace a football pitch. From his time as a precocious winger at Sporting Lisbon and then at Manchester United, to his transformation to arguably the most complete striker in world football, there has never been a shortage of goals.

After an uncharacteristic couple of games where the Portuguese endured a rare barren patch, Ronaldo has once again proved that wherever he goes, goals follow. With his brace against Malmo, in the Champions league, the Portugal captain has finally broken the 500 goal barrier as a professional footballer. We statistically break-down all his goals so far, and there have been plenty of them. 501 to be precise.

Ronaldo’s remarkable goal haul has come from 753 appearances for Real Madrid, Manchester United, Sporting Lisbon and Portugal. In his last 6 matches, he has scored a remarkable 10 goals, putting him on 323 from 308 appearances for Madrid, and enabled him to equal the record of the club’s all-time leading scorer Raul - despite having played over 400 fewer games.

A five-goal haul in the dismantling of Espanyol and his treble against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions league took him to a total of 37 hat-tricks for club and country. In fact, in his last 10 competitive fixtures for Real Madrid, Ronaldo has scored 4 hat tricks, and with 33 overall three-goal hauls for Real, he surpasses Lionel Messi (32) for the most hat-tricks scored for a Spanish club in history. He is also five goals clear of Messi in the Champions League with 82 goals, making him the competition's all-time leading scorer.

While the largest chunk of Ronaldo's 501 goals has come in the colours of the Los Blancos, he has also crossed the 100 goal mark for Manchester United. In six seasons at Old Trafford, the reigning Ballon d’Or holder scored an incredible 118 goals. Before moving to English shores, he had previously netted five times for Sporting Lisbon as a teenager. At the international level, Ronaldo has 55 goals in 122 appearances for Portugal.

Ronaldo scores goals, be it with his left foot, his right foot or headers

Goalkeepers across the world have had nightmares of Ronaldo's lethal right foot, which has accounted for 326 of his total. But this man can score in any fashion, with 90 coming from his left and 83 with his head. To make matters worse for the opposition, he can score all kinds of goals from all kinds of angles. Eighty-three of his total have come from outside the box, and he has also scored 81 penalties and 45 direct free-kicks.

For teams expecting some sort of respite at their home ground, they’re set for disappointment, as home advantage makes little difference to Ronaldo, whose 213 away goals account for 42 percent of his total. He has scored 272 at home, with the final 16 coming at neutral locations.

According to stats, he is at his lethal best between the 76th and 90th minute, during which period he has scored 115 goals. His second-most prolific period is the 16th-30th minute, during which he has scored 87 times.

So who are Ronaldo's prey of choice? Sevilla defenders must be shivering at the very sight of him, with the Portuguese having scored 21 times against the Andalusian side while he also enjoys picking on Getafe, against whom he has scored 18 goals. Remarkably, he has scored 15 times when lining up against Barcelona, and his impact on El Clasicos of recent years has been great.

As for his exploits back in his days in the Premier League, Ronaldo has been most prolific against Aston Villa (9 goals) and Tottenham (8), the former team of his current partner in crime Gareth Bale. Speaking of Gareth Bale, who has had a major part to play in recent years in Ronaldo’s goalscoring exploits, who have been the top assist makers for Cristiano?

Over the course of his career, Karim Benzema has provided the most goals for Ronaldo, with the Frenchman having assisted him 31 times. Mesut Ozil ranks second having made 27 assists for Ronaldo during their four-year spell at the Bernabeu together, before leaving to join Arsenal. Angel Di Maria comes next, having assisted Ronaldo 22 times, before moving to the latter’s previous club, Manchester United, where failing to click would see him move to PSG after just one season.

Gareth Bale himself, on the other hand, comes next with 20, and one would believe that that number would undergo a drastic change by the end of this season. At Manchester United, Ryan Giggs was his top provider with 16, while Wayne Rooney was next with 10 while former United and current international team-mate Nani is just behind Rooney on nine assists.

Ronaldo's most prolific season was the 2011-12 campaign when he scored 69 goals for club and country, and he has surpassed the 60-goal mark in each of his last two seasons.His hunger for goals remains greater than ever, and with advancing age, he has fine-tuned his skills in recent years to that of a poacher and a clinical finisher than that of the tricky dribbler that made his name. On current form, it would not be wise to put it beyond him even crossing the 70-goal mark this season.

Another season is upon us and if one thing is for certain, it is that Ronaldo shall keep scoring. And as always, records shall keep tumbling in his wake. For without characters like him, football would not be ‘The Beautiful Game’.

Edited by Staff Editor