The Champions League legacy of Cristiano Ronaldo is tremendous, but two men got off to an even quicker start than he did in the competition.
Last night we saw yet another example of Cristiano Ronaldo’s brilliance. When Manchester United needed a hero, he stepped up on two separate occasions to ensure they came away with a point from their clash with Atalanta.
?? ??????? ????? ??? ???… and we will do everything to achieve our goals! We are RED DEVILS ?? #MUFC #championsleague pic.twitter.com/gqWduRwEjl
— Cristiano Ronaldo (@Cristiano) November 2, 2021
It was a gruelling, hard-fought affair that ended with plenty of questions being raised – many of which were directed towards Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
Few players can match the feted Cristiano Ronaldo UCL accomplishments. Ronaldo has scored 139 UCL goals in 180 games, putting him well clear of Lionel Messi and Robert Lewandowski in second and third place. However, while CR7 has better longevity, his rivals were a bit quicker to the punch in their first 100 games.
Messi scored 77 goals in his first century of UCL appearances, whereas Lewandowski has scored 81. On Tuesday evening, the Pole took himself to that total by running through Benfica with a sensational hat-trick to help Bayern Munich come away with a 5-2 win.
Make that EIGHTY goals in 100 Champions League games for Robert Lewandowski!
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) November 2, 2021
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Who has the best ratio?
What’s also worth noting is who has the best goals-to-game ratio out of the three men. Cristiano Ronaldo sits on 0.77 due to him playing more times in the Champions League, with Lewandowski and Messi tied at 0.81.
As intriguing as they are, the stats help to paint a picture of just how honoured we all are to witness such a golden generation.
We can disagree over Ballon d’Or victories all we want, but the bottom line is this: all three will go down in history, and rightly so.
Scarily enough, their reign of dominance still shows no sign of slowing down.
Featured image credit: Getty
