15 years ago, on August 29, 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo scored his first goal for Real Madrid in a match against Deportivo, from a penalty. This marked the beginning of Ronaldo’s legendary career at Los Blancos, with numerous titles and a reputation as a penalty expert.
In the summer of 2009, CR7 left MU to join Real Madrid with a then-record transfer fee of £80 million, marking the start of a new era for Los Blancos.
Upon arriving at Bernabeu, Ronaldo wore the number 9 shirt and, after 9 seasons, became the all-time top scorer for Real Madrid with 450 goals in 438 appearances. He, alongside Lionel Messi of Barca, transformed the scoring landscape of football.
Ronaldo did not wait long to win his first title, securing 4 Champions League trophies from 2014 until his move to Juventus in 2018. He scored his first goal for Real in his first La Liga match against Deportivo. After Aranzubia fouled Raul Gonzalez, Ronaldo successfully converted a penalty in the 35th minute.
In his first La Liga season, Ronaldo scored 26 goals. Deportivo was one of his favorite opponents, with 13 goals and 5 assists.
Ronaldo’s illustrious career at Real Madrid began with a modest penalty. Throughout his career, Ronaldo has scored 164 penalty goals (with 30 misses), while Messi has scored 109 penalties (with 31 misses), excluding shootouts. Ronaldo’s success rate is 85%, while Messi’s is 78%.
Despite Ronaldo’s superior statistics, he is not the “Cold-Blooded Penalty King” as often portrayed. Other elite forwards like Robert Lewandowski (91%), Harry Kane (86%), and Zlatan Ibrahimovic (85%) have better penalty conversion rates.
Both Ronaldo and Messi have missed penalties in major matches. Messi missed a penalty in the 2011/12 Champions League semi-final against Chelsea and in the 2016 Copa America final against Chile, leading to losses. Ronaldo missed penalties in the 2008 Champions League semi-final against Barcelona, the 2008 Champions League final against Chelsea (in a shootout), the 2024 EURO quarter-final (Portugal won), and the 2011/12 Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich (lost).