On this day in 2017, Cristiano Ronaldo became the first player in Europe to score 100 goals.
Cristiano scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester United and 12 years later he surpassed Lionel Messi to the 100-goal mark in UEFA club competitions. Even if the rivalry between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi lasts long after both players have retired, as it very well may, the Portugal striker will always remember the day he became the first player to score 100 goals in European games.
Even though both players are towards the conclusion of their careers, they are the only two individuals to have scored more than 100 goals in the Champions League. With a 40-goal gap between them and third-placed Robert Lewandowski on the all-time list, one would expect them to stay in the top two spots for a long time.
As he adds to his score at Manchester United, Ronaldo, on the other hand, is way ahead of the pack. The 37-year-old scored six European goals for United this season before their elimination, in addition to his 14 for Juventus, although he was still a Real Madrid player on this day in 2017.
Ronaldo failed to score in any of his three European games with Sporting CP, as well as his first two seasons with Manchester United. He did, however, get off to a good start when Manchester United defeated Debrecen in Champions League qualifying in 2005-06.
The hundredth goal was approaching after eleven years. After scoring just once in his first 32 European games (according to official UEFA records), it took him 96 games to reach 50 goals, although he scored more than a goal every game after that.
In four consecutive Real Madrid seasons, including his final season at the Bernabeu in 2017-18, he scored more than a goal per game in Europe.