Another brilliant brace from Ronaldo in the 4-0 win over Parma in the Serie A helped him achieve five incredible feats.
Cristiano Ronaldo was a man on a mission on Saturday after missing a penalty against Atalanta and the FIFA Best Player award last week.
These losses fired him up for the weekend – much to Parma’s horror.
The Crusaders had no answer for the Portuguese ace as he smashed home a thumping header and putting away a sweet second just after the break to take his tally for this season up to 16 goals in 13 games across all competitions.
Dejan Kulusevski and Alvaro Morata’s goals helped seal an important 4-0 win for Juve, but it was Ronaldo and his latest feats were that made the show.
33 Serie A goals in a calendar year
Cristiano Ronaldo has now scored 33 goals in only 27 Serie A games in 2020.
CR7 is the fourth player in the Italian league’s history to score at least 33 goals in a calendar year. He now sits level with former Juventus star Omar Sivori as the third-highest goalscorer in a single year on 33 goals behind Gunnar Nordahl (36 goals in 1950) and Felice Borel (41 goals in 1933).
📊 #Ronaldo is only one of the five players able to score 32 goals or more in a calendar year in Serie A history.
The Top 5:
1. Felice Borel 41
2. Gunnar Nordahl 36
3. Omar Sivori 33
3. Cristiano Ronaldo 33
5. Stefano Nyers 32Via @juventusfc @goal pic.twitter.com/ar2Bw0NONw
— JuveFC (@juvefcdotcom) December 20, 2020
Beats Lewandowski for most league goals in 2020
The Juventus ace’s tally of 33 league goals this year is also the most of any player across Europe’s top five divisions.
Robert Lewandowski, who beat Ronaldo for the FIFA Best Player award last week, had to settle for second-best in this battle on 32 goals, despite scoring a brace himself in Bayern Munich’s 2-1 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
And to make this victory even sweeter for Ronaldo, he still has one game to play in 2020. Whereas Lewandowski has already played his last match of the year.
Goals scored in Europe’s top five leagues this year (2020) :
1 – Cristiano Ronaldo 🇵🇹 : 33
2 – Lewandowski 🇵🇱 : 32
3 – Immobile 🇮🇹 : 26
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8th – Messi 🇦🇷 : 18Mind the Gap. 🐐 pic.twitter.com/CcDIdParv7
— Wonaldo (@Madridi7ii) December 19, 2020
Closes in on Pele’s official goal record
Pele’s tally of 767 official goals is under serious threat as Ronaldo scored his 756th career goal against Parma.
According to beIN Sports correspondent Tancredi Palmeri’s data, the Portuguese will only need to score another 12 goals to become the highest goalscorer in football history.
All-time ranking of most officials goals scored ever
1. Pelé 767
2. Cristiano Ronaldo 756
3. Romario 734
4. Messi 727
5. Gerd Mueller 720
6. Puskas 706
7. Bican 636
8. Eusébio 615
9. Deak 558
10. Ibrahimovic 556
11. Friedenreich 554
12. Zico 525
13. Di Stefano 516— Tancredi Palmeri (@tancredipalmeri) December 19, 2020
103 headed goals at club level
‘Air Ronaldo’ and his NBA-style jumps have been a key factor behind his success in beating defences down the years recently. Not even the best center-backs have stopped him, as he scores for fun from the air.
The Parma game was no exception as Cristiano scored the 103rd header of his club career and his 13th for Juventus. In fact, 16% of his 654 club career goals have been headers.
Air Ronaldo struck again 🛫 pic.twitter.com/xWnVO55gaC
— B/R Football (@brfootball) December 19, 2020
Surpasses Zlatan to become Serie A top-scorer
The Real Madrid and Manchester United legend has now scored 12 goals in only nine Serie A games this season!
It means Ronaldo has moved clear of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Romelu Lukaku in the league goal charts. If things stay this way for the rest of the campaign, he’ll win his first Capocannoniere award in Italy.
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