Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo has received a prestigious UEFA’s Champions League award as all-time top scorer of the European competition.
The Portuguese superstar, who is now plying his trade with Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia, received the award at the Champions League group phase draw in Monaco on Thursday night.
Ronaldo, a five-time winner of the UEFA Champions League, got his hands first on the iconic big-eared trophy with Manchester United when the Red Devils beat Chelsea in Moscow on penalties back in 2008.
Smashing the world transfer record to join Real Madrid in 2009, Ronaldo had to wait half a decade to taste continental glory in the Spanish capital.
Once Carlo Ancelotti helped break the seal with a 2014 extra time triumph over Atletico Madrid in the capital of Ronaldo’s homeland Portugal at Benfica’s Estadio Da Luz in Lisbon, the veteran was a protagonist in Zinedine Zidane’s “three-peat” which brought a trio of back-to-back UCL victories from 2016 to 2018.
Ronaldo hasn’t managed to lift the UCL since, though neither has generational rival Lionel Messi again following Barca’s last going all the way in 2015.
Even so, though, Ronaldo managed to leave Europe for the Middle East in early 2023 as the Champions League’s all-time top scorer on 140 goals – and it’s difficult to imagine anyone getting anywhere near him in this respect with Messi having also fled the Old Continent for Inter Miami on 129 strikes.
Receiving an accolade for the conquest in Monaco, Ronaldo said: “For me it’s a pleasure to be here. This award means a lot to me.”
“The Champions League is the highest in football, the record speaks for itself but to play in that competition is special. It’s great to be here, I have nice memories [from] when I came to Monaco for this gala.”