Snap shot: Ronaldo gets off the mark for Madrid

Sunday, October 18, 2015

As Cristiano Ronaldo becomes Real Madrid's 324-goal all-time top scorer, we turn the clock back to 29 August 2009 and goal No1. Recognise anybody else in this picture?

Snap shot: Ronaldo gets off the mark for Madrid ©Getty Images

With 324 goals, Cristiano Ronaldo has become Real Madrid's highest scorer of all time, surpassing Raúl González's club record. Incredibly, it is only six years since his first, a 48th-minute penalty against Deportivo La Coruña in what was his third game following his arrival from Manchester United. UEFA.com looks back at that strike on 29 August 2009.

UEFA Champions League history

1. Laureano Sanabria
'Laure' came through Real Madrid's academy but never played a senior fixture for his boyhood side. After a stint with Leganés in the third tier he switched to Deportivo in 2007, where he remains to this day. The full-back is now the Galicians' vice captain and has experienced the pain of relegation and joy of promotion with Depor in recent seasons.

2. Kaká
The Brazilian landed at the Bernabéu a week before Ronaldo and was given a similarly glitzy presentation, but injuries dulled his impact. He made 119 outings and netted 29 goals – winning the Liga title, Copa del Rey and Spanish Super Cup – before leaving in 2013 to rejoin AC Milan. "Things didn't quite work out in Madrid but it was still great experience," he said. After a campaign back at Milan he returned to another former haunt, boyhood team São Paulo. Now plying his trade, aged 33, in the MLS with Orlando City.

3. Cristiano Ronaldo
The Portuguese came to the Bernabéu with goalscoring credentials firmly established at Manchester United, yet has eclipsed all that in Spain. It has taken him just 310 matches to blow Raúl out of the water – less than half of the Spaniard's 741 appearances. Even with Lionel Messi around, the 30-year-old Ronaldo has bagged three Liga top scorer prizes, three ESM Golden Shoes and smashed the record for most goals in a UEFA Champions League season. As Carlo Ancelotti put it: "When you have him on the pitch it's like having a 1-0 headstart."

Watch ten of Raúl’s best goals

4. Raúl González
Raúl was at Atlético before being released as a cost-cutting exercise aged 15 – their loss was Real Madrid's gain. He got his first goal for the Merengues back in 1994 against ... Atlético of course. Raúl was a natural successor to Emiliano Butragueño, another local-born goal machine, and overtook Alfredo Di Stéfano as the club's all-time leading marksman in 2009. He won six Liga titles and three UEFA Champions Leagues with Madrid, scoring in the 2000 and 2002 final victories, and after a spell at Schalke is still playing, at 38, for New York Cosmos in the NASL, in what will be his final season.

5. Juan Rodríguez
A seasoned pro, the midfielder has represented home-town team Málaga, Deportivo and Getafe in the Liga. A Málaga youth product, he subsequently had five seasons with Depor before linking up with Getafe in the wake of the Galicians' relegation in 2010/11. He initially struggled for game time in the capital yet cemented a starting berth in front of the back four last term and was an ever-present despite Getafe having three different coaches.

6. Zé Castro
The Portuguese defender first moved to Spain with Atlético, before a loan to Deportivo prompted a permanent transfer in summer 2009. He featured 96 times in the Liga for the Riazor outfit before heading back to the capital in 2013 to join Rayo Vallecano. A regular last term, he racked up his 50th game for Rayo in the 2-0 defeat by Real Betis on 4 October.