Centurion: Ronaldo becomes 1st player to score 100 European goals

13 Apr, 2017 12:18 / Updated 7 years ago

Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo became the first footballer to score 100 goals in European competition during his side’s 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in Germany on Wednesday night.

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The mercurial Portuguese forward netted a brace as Real beat five-time European champions Bayern 2-1 at the Allianz Arena to put one foot in the UEFA Champions League semi-final stage.

Los Blancos came from a goal down to clinch the win, after going into the halftime break trailing thanks to Arturo Vidal’s 25th-minute header.

Almost immediately after the restart, Ronaldo volleyed home Daniel Carvajal’s cross on 47 minutes to level the score on the night and bring his tally up to 99.

Half an hour later, Ronaldo reached his history-making milestone when he met Marco Asensio’s ball into the Bayern area to poke home and put Real ahead.

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“So happy with the victory tonight and to have reached 100 (goals) in European competitions,” Ronaldo posted on Instagram.

“A huge thanks to all my teammates and coaches. Without them this wouldn't be possible!”

Ronaldo reached his century in 143 games over a period of 11 years and 8 months. He first opened his European goal-scoring account in Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Hungarian side Debrecen on August 9, 2005.

Now at the top of the all-time European goalscoring pile, Ronaldo stands three ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, who has 97 in 118 games.

Ronaldo has 24 more goals than Real legend and former captain Raul, who managed 76 goals in 158 games.

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In Wednesday's other Champions League matches, Atlético Madrid beat Leicester City 1-0 at the Vicente Calderón and Borussia Dortmund went down 3-2 to Monaco in the game rearranged from Tuesday.