Cristiano Ronaldo is a man on form. The Real Madrid forward struggled for goals in La Liga in the first part of the season, but he is now on the most prolific scoring streak of his entire career.
Although he finished as top scorer in the Champions League group stages with nine goals, the Portuguese netted just four times in the first half of the Primera Division in an inconsistent season start in the competition for Los Blancos.
But everything has changed in recent weeks, and after making his best-ever start to a calendar year, Ronaldo is now on a remarkable run that has seen him net 21 goals in his last 11 matches.
The Portuguese, who was rested for the weekend win in Las Palmas, has now scored in six consecutive La Liga games, netting in eight consecutive matches in all competitions overall – both of those for the first since November 2014.
Ronaldo’s fantastic four-goal show in the 6-3 win over Girona prior to the international break made it 17 in his last eight appearances and 21 in 11 prior to Tuesday’s Champions League clash away to Juventus.
Never in his incredible career, which has seen him rack up an astonishing 566 club goals, has he managed to score at such an impressive rate, although he has come close on several occasions.
As a Manchester United player, Ronaldo registered 14 goals in 11 games between December and January in 2007-08, his most prolific season at Old Trafford as he finished with 42 strikes in total. In 2008-09, he then netted 26 in total, including nine in 11 at one point.
Cristiano’s debut campaign at Real Madrid brought 33 goals, including 11 at the end of the 2009-10 season. In 2010-11, he then bagged 53 in all competitions, a return which featured a streak of 18 in 11 matches (with three hat-tricks in that run) and another of 15 in 11 (11 of those in the last four fixtures of the season).
In 2011-12, he netted 60 goals, including a streak of 15 in 11 games as Madrid won La Liga with a record 100 points under Jose Mourinho. And the following season, his 55 goals in 55 games included 17 in 11 at one stage.
Under Carlo Ancelotti in 2013-14, Ronaldo converted 51 times, netting 18 in 11 games in his best run, during which he hit two hat-tricks. And the following season, his best in terms of goals as he scored 61 in total, the Portuguese managed 19 in 11 at the start of the campaign (featuring two triples and one four-goal haul).
That was his best-ever 11-game scoring streak at club level up until now, although he did claim 15 in 11 over two separate spells in 2015-16 and managed 16 in 11 at the end of last season, starting against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last eight and culminating in his double against Juventus in the final in Cardiff.
On Tuesday, he will be back in action against Juventus again, hoping to repeat his magic from the final stages of the European competition last season. And the omens are good as he travels to Turin on the most prolific scoring streak of his entire career.
