2008–09: Final season and continued success

Ronaldo in his final season with Manchester United playing in a Premier League game against Liverpool
Ahead of the 2008–09 season, on 7 July, Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery,[95] which kept him out of action for 10 weeks.[96] Following his return, he scored his 100th goal in all competitions for United with the first of two free kicks in a 5–0 win against Stoke City on 15 November,[97] which meant he had now scored against all 19 opposition teams in the Premier League at the time.[98] At the close of 2008, Ronaldo helped United win the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan,[99] assisting the final-winning goal against Liga de Quito and winning the Silver Ball in the process.[100] He subsequently became United's first Ballon d'Or winner since George Best in 1968,[101] and the first Premier League player to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year.[102]
His match-winning goal in the second leg against Porto, a 40-yard strike, earned him the inaugural FIFA Puskás Award, presented by FIFA in recognition of the best goal of the year;[103] he later called it the best goal he had ever scored.[104] United advanced to the final in Rome,[105] where he made little impact in United's 2–0 defeat to Barcelona.[106] Ronaldo ended his time in England with nine trophies, as United claimed their third successive Premier League title and a Football League Cup.[107][108] He finished the campaign with 26 goals in all competitions, 16 goals fewer than the previous season, in four more appearances.[109] His final ever goal for Manchester United came on 10 May 2009 with a free kick in the Manchester derby at Old Trafford.[110]
Real Madrid
2009–13: World record transfer and La Liga championship

As his usual number 7 was unavailable, Ronaldo wore number 9 during his debut season at Madrid. After Raúl departed the club, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt before the 2010–11 season.
Ahead of the 2009–10 season, Ronaldo joined Real Madrid for a world record transfer fee at the time, of £80 million (€94 million).[111] His contract, which ran until 2015, was worth €11 million per year and contained a €1 billion buy-out clause.[112] At least 80,000 fans attended his presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu, surpassing the 25-year record of 75,000 fans who had welcomed Diego Maradona at Napoli.[113] Since club captain Raúl already wore the number 7 (the number Ronaldo wore at Manchester United), Ronaldo received the number 9 shirt,[114] which was presented to him by former Madrid player Alfredo Di Stéfano.[115]
Ronaldo made his debut in La Liga on 29 August 2009, against Deportivo La Coruña, and scored from the penalty spot in Madrid's 3–2 home win.[116] He scored in each of his first four league fixtures with the club, the first Madrid player to do so.[117] His first Champions League goals for the club followed with two free kicks in the first group match against Zürich.[118] His strong start to the season, however, was interrupted when he suffered an ankle injury in October while on international duty, which kept him sidelined for seven weeks.[119][120] A week after his return, he received his first red card in Spain in a match against Almería.[121] Midway through the season, Ronaldo placed second in the running for the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year award, behind Lionel Messi of Barcelona, Madrid's historic rivals. He finished the campaign with 33 goals in all competitions, including a hat-trick in a 4–1 win against Mallorca on 5 May 2010, his first in the Spanish competition.[122][123] His first season at Real Madrid ended trophyless.[124]
Following Raúl's departure, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 shirt for Real Madrid before the 2010–11 season.[125] His subsequent return to his Ballon d'Or-winning form was epitomised when, for the first time in his career, he scored four goals in a single match during a 6–1 rout against Racing Santander on 23 October.[126] His haul concluded a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches (three in La Liga, one in the Champions League, and two for Portugal) totalling 11 goals, the most he had scored in a single month. Ronaldo subsequently scored further hat-tricks against Athletic Bilbao, Levante, Villarreal, and Málaga.[127][128][129] Despite his performance, he did not make the podium for the inaugural FIFA Ballon d'Or at the end of 2010.[130]
During a historical series of four Clásicos against rivals Barcelona in April 2011, Ronaldo scored twice to equal his personal record of 42 goals in all competitions in a single season. Although he failed to find the net during Madrid's eventual elimination in the Champions League semi-finals, he equalised from the penalty spot in the return league game and scored the match-winning goal in the 103rd minute of the Copa del Rey final, winning his first trophy in Spain.[131][132] Over the next two weeks, Ronaldo scored another four-goal haul against Sevilla,[133] a hat-trick against Getafe,[134] and a brace of free kicks against Villarreal, taking his league total to 38 goals, which equalled the record for most goals scored in a season held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.[135] His two goals in the last match of the season, against Almería, made him the first player in La Liga to score 40 goals.[136] In addition to the Pichichi Trophy, Ronaldo consequently won the European Golden Shoe for a second time, becoming the first player to win the award in two different leagues.[137]
During the following campaign, the 2011–12 season, Ronaldo surpassed his previous goalscoring feats to achieve a new personal best of 60 goals across all competitions.[138] His 100th goal for Real Madrid came at Camp Nou in the Supercopa de España, though Barcelona claimed the trophy 5–4 on aggregate.[139] He regained a place on the FIFA Ballon d'Or podium, as runner-up to Messi, after scoring hat-tricks against Real Zaragoza, Rayo Vallecano, Málaga, Osasuna, and Sevilla, the last of which put Madrid on top of the league by the season's midway point.[140][141][142] Despite two goals from Ronaldo, Madrid were subsequently defeated by Barcelona, 4–3, on aggregate in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey. He again scored twice, including a penalty, in the Champions League semi-finals against Bayern Munich, resulting in a 3–3 draw, but his penalty kick in the shootout was saved by Manuel Neuer, leading to Madrid's elimination.[143]
Ronaldo found greater team success in the league, as he helped Real Madrid win their first La Liga title in four years, with a record 100 points. Following a hat-trick against Levante, further increasing Madrid's lead over Barcelona,[144] he scored his 100th league goal for Madrid in a 5–1 win over Real Sociedad on 24 March 2012, a milestone he reached in just 92 matches across three seasons, breaking the previous club record held by Ferenc Puskás.[145] Another hat-trick in the Madrid derby against Atlético Madrid brought his total to 40 league goals, equalling his record of the previous season.[146] On 21 April Ronaldo scored the winner in a 2–1 victory over Barcelona at the Camp Nou, which saw him mocking the hostile crowd with a "calm down" gesture during his goal celebration – a celebration he would repeat against Barca four years later.[147] His final league goal of the campaign, against Mallorca, took his total to 46 goals, four short of the new record set by Messi,[148] and earned him the distinction of being the first player to score against all 19 opposition teams in a single season in La Liga.[149]
Ronaldo began the 2012–13 season by lifting the Supercopa de España, his third trophy in Spain. With a goal in each leg by the Portuguese, Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup on away goals following a 4–4 aggregate draw against Barcelona.[150] Although Ronaldo publicly commented that he was unhappy with a "professional issue" within the club, prompted by his refusal to celebrate his 150th goal for Madrid,[151] his goalscoring rate did not suffer. After netting a hat-trick, including two penalties, against Deportivo La Coruña, he scored his first hat-trick in the Champions League in a 4–1 victory over Ajax.[152] Four days later, he became the first player to score in six successive Clásicos when he hit a brace in a 2–2 draw at Camp Nou.[153] His performances in 2012 again saw Ronaldo voted second in the running for the FIFA Ballon d'Or, finishing runner-up to four-time winner Messi.[154]
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