The list for the Champions League top scorers of all time stretches from players who played in the European Cup (first held during the 1955-56 season) to its current branding as the Champions League (renamed as such in 1992). The competition is now synonymous with the active footballing behemoths known as Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, and for good reason.
Having won Italy’s Serie A title for seven consecutive seasons now, it’s obvious that Juventus did not buy Cristiano Ronaldo last summer in a bid to establish domestic dominance. The Old Lady spent nearly $130 million on the 34-year-old to finally land the prize that’s eluded them since 1996, the UEFA Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo is back with the Portugal national team.
After more than eight months away from the Seleção das Quinas since the 2018 World Cup, coach Fernando Santos picked Ronaldo to the squad to play against Ukraine and Serbia in Euro 2020 qualifiers, the team announced Friday.
Portugal will play Ukraine on March 22 and Serbia on March 25, both at Lisbon’s Estadio da Luz.
The mission seemed impossible for Juventus after the first leg.
A defeat at Atletico Madrid meant the Old Lady needed three goals without allowing one against one of the best defenses in all of Europe.
But Juventus has something this year it’s never had before: Cristiano Ronaldo.
The former Real Madrid superstar paid off his immense transfer fee with one incredible performance, scoring a hat trick to lead Juventus to a 3-2 aggregate win in the Champions League Round of 16 on Tuesday in Turin.
In his first season in Italy after nine season with Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the Spanish capital for a Champions League Round of 16 match on Wednesday.
Facing Atlético Madrid with his new Italian club Juventus, Ronaldo was unsurprisingly a target of the home fans at the Wanda Metropolitano. He responded by mocking the Atleti fans, and Los Colchoneros responded by handing the Bianconeri a critical 2-0 defeat.
With Cristiano Ronaldo joining the side, Paulo Dybala’s goal scoring has dried up a bit in Serie A. The Argentine scored 22 goals in 33 league appearances in 2017-18, but had just two in 20 heading into the weekend. We got a not-so-subtle reminder of what the 25-year-old can do when he looks for goal with this incredible Dybala goal vs Frosinone on Friday.
Juventus was never likely to struggle playing at home against Frosinone, 47 points back of Juve in 19th place, even with a Champions League match with Atlético Madrid to look forward to on Wednesday.
The 2013 Ballon d'Or was one of the closest votes in the history of the award, given to the world’s best footballer in a given year.
And Franck Ribery is still bitter he didn’t win.
Does he have a point? Maybe.
The 2013 Ballon d'Or was an odd one. FIFA, which joined France Football in the awarding of the trophy in 2010, extended the voting period late in the process after announcing it had only received votes from less than 50 percent of eligible voters.
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey will be playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo next season. After plenty of rumors surrounding Ramsey’s potential switch to the Italian giant seemed like outlandish speculation, news came out Monday that the Welshman signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus.
Thank you, @aaronramsey
Things are going fine for Cristiano Ronaldo in Italy. On Sunday, the 34-year-old scored his 18th league goal in 23 appearances during Juventus’ 3-0 victory over Sassuolo. Following Napoli’s draw with Fiorentina, the win sees Juve open up an 11-point gap at the top of the table with 15 matches remaining.
So it’s looking like an eighth straight Scudetto for the Old Lady and a Capocannoniere for Ronaldo as Serie A’s top scorer. Ho-hum.