Ronaldo Equals Yet Another Champions League Record

 

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo has reached yet another Champions League record by scoring against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday. 

Ronaldo netted in the 88th minute to put the gloss on a comfortable 3-0 win for Juventus in Group D at the Allianz Stadium. 

The goal meant Ronaldo has now scored against 33 different opponents in the Champions League, equalling the record set by Real Madrid great Raul. 

Ronaldo cannot afford to get too comfortable, however, as his great rival Lionel Messi has scored against 32 different teams in his Champions League career.

The Barcelona star could level Ronaldo as soon as Wednesday when Ernesto Valverde’s side take on Inter – a team Messi has yet to find the back of the net against. 

Ronaldo, meanwhile, continues to shine at Juventus as he has started his second campaign with the Serie A side well. 

The 34-year-old has scored four goals in seven appearances in all competitions for Juve, with Tuesday marking his first Champions League goal of the season. 

Though he is still firing on all cylinders, Ronaldo dropped a hint on his retirement plans on Tuesday.

Speaking about his future, Ronaldo indicated that he has started to think more about his post-playing career.

“I still love football. I love to entertain the fans and the people who love Cristiano. It doesn’t matter the age, it’s all about mentality,” Ronaldo told SPORTbible . 

“The last five years I start to enjoy this process of seeing me outside of football, so who knows what will happen in the next year or two?”

Currently, though, Ronaldo’s focus is on helping Juventus end a Champions League title drought that dates back to the 1995-96 campaign. 

Last season Juventus surprisingly fell to Ajax at the quarter-final stage, despite Ronaldo scoring in both legs of the tie.  Juventus are back in action on Sunday with a huge early-season league match against Inter at San Siro. 

The Bianconeri are searching for a ninth consecutive league title but Inter are setting the early-season pace in Serie A, having won all six of their league matches thus far. 

Juve are just two points back of Inter, with five wins and a draw from their opening six fixtures.