Ronaldo joins Al Nassr: The glorious European legacy left by a true great

Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr looks likely to bring the curtain down on one of the greatest careers in the history of European football.

While writing off Ronaldo is always unwise, a combination of the striker’s age and the unsavoury nature of his second spell at Manchester United make a return to elite European football seem improbable.

As a five-time Champions League winner and the top scorer in the history of European football’s premier club competition, Ronaldo’s legacy as one of the all-time greats is secure.

However, with seven top-flight league titles and a plethora of other trophies to his name, Ronaldo’s impact on the continental game went beyond his goals on the grandest club stage.

With the five-time Ballon d’Or winner heading to Riyadh after penning a reported two-and-a-half-year deal with Al Nassr, Stats Perform looks back on his seismic impact in European club football.

Ronaldo’s Premier League emergence

Ronaldo’s return to the Premier League may not have gone to plan – the 37-year-old only scored once in the competition this term before an explosive interview with Piers Morgan led to his Old Trafford exit.

However, the three-time Premier League winner certainly made his mark in England, scoring 103 goals in 236 top-flight games for United.

Having burst onto the scene as a tricky winger, Ronaldo recorded 37 assists in the competition for the Red Devils, who he also helped to their third European title in 2008.

He also claimed his first Ballon d’Or while in Manchester in 2008 after scoring 31 goals in their title-winning 2007-08 campaign – that single-season tally has only been bettered by three players in the competition’s history.

Making history with Madrid in LaLiga

Ronaldo may be treated as a legend at United, but it was at Real Madrid where he really made his name as one of football’s greatest, becoming Los Blancos’ top scorer with 450 goals in all competitions.

Incredibly, the Portugal forward averaged over a goal per game throughout his trophy-laden spell in Spain, hitting the net 311 times in 292 appearances in LaLiga.

Ronaldo scored with 16 per cent of his shots for Madrid, a higher percentage than he managed in the Premier League, Serie A or the Champions League.

Madrid may be famed for their Champions League accomplishments, but Ronaldo also helped them to two domestic title triumphs in 2011-12 and 2016-17, netting 46 times as Jose Mourinho’s side earned 100 points in the first of those campaigns.

Serie A success with the Bianconeri

Given Juventus’ failure to win the Champions League, few consider Ronaldo’s time in Turin to be an unmitigated success. The raw numbers, however, suggest otherwise.

Managing 81 goals in 98 league appearances for a club in perpetual crisis – with a conversion rate of 15 per cent – tells the story of how Ronaldo evolved in Serie A, honing his game as the ultimate penalty-box forward in his advancing years.

Despite a tumultuous period which saw Maurizio Sarri replace Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus stretched their incredible run of Scudetto success to nine consecutive seasons.

That stint ended in Ronaldo’s final full campaign at the Allianz Stadium, though he still finished as Serie A’s top scorer with 29 goals.

The Champions League master

For those who believe Ronaldo to be the greatest to have played the game, the Portugal forward’s exploits in the Champions League are always the crucial factor, the trump card.

Ronaldo’s record of 140 goals in the competition is unmatched, though his great rival Lionel Messi (129) may have something to say about that if he declines to follow his fellow forward’s lead in exiting Europe.

Averaging almost a goal contribution per game (180 in 183 appearances), Ronaldo won an astonishing 115 games in the Champions League, lifting the trophy five times – a joint-high tally.

As Madrid cemented their status as European masters by winning three consecutive titles between the 2015-16 and 2017-18 seasons, Ronaldo top-scored in the competition every season, cementing his legacy as the ultimate big-game player.