The Portuguese is in the finest form of his career and is now favourite to claim the Ballon dOr, so Goal takes a look at his stunning stats with Madrid and Portugal this year 67 - Ronaldo has hit 67 goals so far for club and country this year, beating his previous record of 63, in 2012. And he still has five more games to add to that tally (Madrid have eight matches left in 2013 but Cristiano is suspended for the two Copa del Rey clashes against Olimpic de Xativa). The 67 goals have come in just 56 appearances for Madrid and Portugal. Last years 63 came in 71 appearances. 64 - By comparison, Ronaldos rivals for the next Ballon dOr crown, Messi and Ribery, have scored a combined 64 goals in 2013. 57 - The bulk of Cristianos goals in 2013 have come with Madrid. The Portuguese has netted 57 times in 47 official games for his club this year. 47 - The Madeira-born forwards triple against Sweden saw him reach 47 international goals and equal the Portuguese record held by former Paris Saint-Germain striker Pauleta. One more goal will see Ronaldo, who has 109 Seleccao caps to his name, claim the record outright. 37 - Ronaldo has scored 37 of his 67 goals in La Liga this year - in just 31 games. 33 - For club and country in 2013-14, Cristiano has 33 goals in 23 games. 30 - In April, he became the first player in Madrids history to score more than 30 goals for three straight seasons. And he is well on target to do so again this term. 25 - The Portuguese has already scored 25 goals for Real this season (from just 18 games) - his best-ever start to a season in Spain. And that with a new coach and system to get used to, plus the departure of Mesut Ozil (the German had set up more goals for Cristiano than anyone else - 27 - in the previous three campaigns). 19 - His double at Elche, which included a controversial penalty in added time, means the former Manchester United man has now netted against every other team in La Liga. In 2011-12, he became the first player to do so in a single season, but he had never played previously against Elche, who were promoted in the summer. 17 - Ronaldo is currently La Ligas top scorer so far this season with 17 goals and, with Messi on eight and recovering from injury, he is well on course for a second Pichichi prize. 16 - The Portuguese has added maturity to his unquestionable individual brilliance and has 16 assists in 2013, meaning he has been involved in an amazing 82 goals overall this year. 14 - Cristianos strike at Juventus earlier this month was his 14th Champions League goal of 2013, which saw him beat Messis mark of 13 from last year. 10 - Ronaldo has 10 goals in nine matches for Portugal in 2013 - the first time he has managed double figures for his country in a calendar year. His previous best was seven in nine games, in 2011. 8 - The 28-year-old is the current top scorer in this seasons Champions League, with eight goals from his four games. He needs just one more in the final two group games to break a record he now shares with Hernan Crespo, Filippo Inzaghi and Ruud van Nistelrooy. 6 - Ronaldo has hit six hat-tricks for Madrid in 2013. In total, he has now netted 23 triples for the Spanish side. He only scored one hat-trick at Manchester United, despite spending six seasons at Old Trafford and racking up 118 goals for the team managed by Sir Alex Ferguson. 5 - Ronaldo recently moved up to fifth in the list of all-time Madrid scorers, overtaking Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez, and now has 226 goals for Los Blancos, in just 217 matches. At his current strike-rate, the Portuguese will surpass Madrids highest scorer, Raul (323 in 741 games) in 2015. 2 - Up until this year, Cristiano had never netted a hat-trick for Portugal. He now has two: against Northern Ireland in Belfast during World Cup qualifying; and on Tuesday, as he hit three past Sweden in the teams second leg play-off for a place at Brazil 2014. 0 - Ronaldo will end 2013 without a trophy after Madrid won only the Spanish Supercopa in Jose Mourinhos final season at the Santiago Bernabeu. That title, of course, came back in August last year. Whether that makes any difference in the Ballon dOr voting remains to be seen, but trophies or no trophies, Cristiano has been 2013s finest footballer.
Posted on: Wed, 04 Dec 2013 04:25:59 +0000
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