Juve 1-0 Atletico Madrid: Ronaldo closes in on Champions League record
Juventus ace Cristiano Ronaldo took a huge step towards becoming the holder of UEFA’s all-time appearance record on Tuesday night.
Paulo Dybala scored a wonderful free-kick to earn Juventus a 1-0 home win over Atletico Madrid that secured top spot in Group D of the Champions League.
The Portuguuese made his first appearance in European club competition 17 years ago for Sporting Lisbon as a fresh-faced 17-year-old.
Fast forward 17 seasons, and slew of team and personal trophies later, the Juventus hitman is on the brink of claiming the record for most appearances in the history of UEFA club competitions.
Prior to Juve’s clash Champions League clash with Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo had made 174 appearances in UEFA-sanctioned club matches – a total which saw him sit third in the all-time appearance list.
That changed, however, as soon as the visit of Atletico got underway, with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner moving above AC Milan and Italy legend Paulo Maldini in the list.
Ronaldo’s moving up the list was revealed by the Champions League’s official Twitter account, which tweeted: “New record for Cristiano Ronaldo!
“Only one player in history has made more UEFA club appearances.”
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Ronaldo, 34, is now only 14 appearances away from making the record his own.