Cristiano Ronaldo will be honoured with a special award as the Champions League’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Ronaldo’s achievements in the competition will be recognised during the Champions League 2024-25 draw, which will take place in Monaco on Thursday.
Over the course of 18 years, Ronaldo netted 140 goals in 183 Champions League appearances, 11 more than Lionel Messi in second place, and 46 clear of Robert Lewandowski in third.
The 39-year-old’s first goal came in his fourth season in the competition, netting twice in Manchester United’s 7-1 quarter-final victory over Roma in April 2007.
The following season, Ronaldo won his first Champions League title, proving an integral part of United’s winning team as he scored eight times, including their only goal in the final against Chelsea.
He would go on to win four more titles with Real Madrid, enjoying his most prolific campaign during the first of those successes as he netted 17 times, a competition record, in 11 appearances in 2013-14.
The pick of Ronaldo’s Champions League goals came during the longest scoring streak in the competition’s history (11 games between June 2017 and April 2018), as he scored an outstanding overhead kick against Juventus in the quarter-finals.
