The exceptional year that Cristiano Ronaldo is having is most obvious in Europe’s top competition. With 11 goals the forward has already broken the record of any player in Real’s history in the Champions League. Essential in the playoffs against Manchester United and Galatasaray, the Real striker has scored the side’s first goal in six of the 10 clashes this season. In his four seasons with the club Cristiano Ronaldo has played 38 matches in Europe’s top tier and has netted first for Real in 17, that is, 45% of the time.
The Portuguese forward scored Real’s first goal on three occasions in the Group Stage. The Whites thrashed Ajax (1-4) in a second fixture away game with a hat trick from Cristiano Ronaldo, who netted first in min. 42. He was the author of Real’s only goal in their next match in Signal Iduna Park against Borussia Dortmund, and scored again against Ajax in min. 30 in the final game of the Group Stage, closing out a five-game scoring run in the Champions League. Five of the Whites’ eight goals in the playoffs against United and Galatasaray were netted by Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored first against both teams, once in the Santiago Bernabeu and again in the Ali Sami Yen stadium.
| MATCHES IN WHICH CRISTIANO SCORED THE FIRST GOAL | ||
| Match | Minute | |
| Ajax 1-4 Real Madrid | 42' | |
| Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Real Madrid | 38' | |
| Real Madrid 4-1 Ajax | 13' | |
| Real Madrid 1-1 Manchester United | 30' | |
| Real Madrid 3-0 Galatasaray | 9' | |
| Galatasaray 3-2 Real Madrid | 7' | |
Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance only seems to get better as the team gets closer to the competition’s crunch games. Real’s number seven is the player who has scored the most first goals in Champions League matches, whose 12 goals beat out Messi’s nine and the eight scored by Raul and Inzaghi.