7 Teams Cristiano Ronaldo Scored the Most Goals Against

Cristiano Ronaldo is renowned as one of the greatest football players of all time. During his career, he has won 33 trophies, including five Champions League triumphs and a major tournament for his country at the European Championship in 2016. He made his name as a worldwide talent at Manchester United, where he spent six years between 2003 and 2009. In this period, he won the Premier League three times, as well as an FA Cup and a Champions League.

Ronaldo’s most successful stint as a player came during his time at Real Madrid. At Los Blancos, the Portuguese forward won four Champions League titles as well as four Ballon d’Or trophies. In his nine-year period at the Spanish giants, he scored 450 goals in 438 games, making him the club’s record goalscorer. Here is a closer look at which teams Ronaldo has scored the most goals against during his 22-year playing career so far.

7 Athletic Bilbao

Throughout Ronaldo’s time at Real Madrid, Athletic Bilbao were regulars in La Liga, even finishing fourth in the 2013/14 campaign. He enjoyed a lot of success against the Basque club, scoring 17 goals in 18 appearances as well as registering seven assists. This included two hat-tricks in November 2010 and October 2014.

His last appearance against Bilbao was in April 2018, where he scored a backheel goal in the late stages of the game to secure his team a point. This was his first goal in four appearances when facing Los Leones, which was a barren run when compared to the earlier stages of his career. In fact, between November 2010 and May 2012, he scored seven goals in four matches.

6 Malaga

In the early stages of his Real Madrid career, Malaga were one of Ronaldo’s favourite opponents. In his first five games against Los Boquerones, he scored 10 goals, registering two assists. This included consecutive hat-tricks in 7-0 and 4-0 wins in March 2011 and October 2011, respectively.

He continued to score at will when facing Malaga during his career, only going two games without a goal in a head-to-head match once. All in all, he scored 17 goals in 19 appearances against Malaga, only losing once. This defeat was a 3-2 loss in December 2012, which saw Ronaldo draw a blank. In the return fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu later in that season, he registered three goal contributions in a 6-2 victory to make amends for the defeat.

5 Celta Vigo

Ronaldo only played against Celta Vigo 13 times, but scored 20 goals and registered four assists. In fact, out of these 13 matches, there were only three occasions where the Portuguese talisman didn’t get on the scoresheet. His best tally against Los Celestes came in March 2016, when he scored four in a 7-1 victory at the Bernabeu. He scored a hat-trick another two times, once in the Copa del Rey in 2013 and the other in La Liga in December 2014.

His last appearance against Celta Vigo came in January 2018, where he didn’t register a goal in a 2-2 draw. Ronaldo missed the return game at the Bernabeu due to an ankle injury, and when he confirmed his move to Juventus in 2018, Celta Vigo’s fans and players would have been pleased to see the back of him.

4 Barcelona

The rivalry between Barcelona and Ronaldo is a longstanding one. Ronaldo made appearances for three different teams against the Catalan giants, including Manchester United, Real Madrid, and Juventus. In 34 appearances, he scored 20 goals, winning 10 matches, drawing nine, and losing 15.

Some of the most high-profile matches he had when facing Barcelona were in the Champions League. For example, Ronaldo played in United’s 2-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s team in the 2009 final. As well as this, he lost a two-legged semi-final to Barcelona in the 2010/11 Champions League semi-final. Overall, the Portuguese forward played six games against the Blaugrana in the biggest domestic competition in world football, scoring only twice.

He did enjoy some memorable moments when facing Barcelona, though. In the 2011 Copa del Rey final, he scored the winning goal in extra-time with a towering header to lead his side to victory. He also scored with an impressive, curling right-footed effort from outside the box in the 2017/18 Supercopa – a game that also saw him sent off.

3 Getafe

Ronaldo was consistently a thorn in Getafe’s side, scoring 23 goals in only 14 appearances. Real Madrid won 13 of those games, with the sole defeat coming in August 2012. In his first four games against Getafe, Ronaldo scored eight goals, including a hat-trick in a 4-0 win in May 2011. Only two years later, he scored another three in one game against the Azulones.

The 39-year-old’s best performance when facing Getafe was in September 2013, when he scored a brace and registered two assists in a comfortable 4-1 win. This included a no-look backheel goal in the closing stages of the game.

2 Atletico Madrid

Diego Simeone has been so close to winning the Champions League on multiple occasions, losing two finals to Real Madrid. In fact, he once said:

In the 2013/14 final, Atletico were seconds away from winning the trophy for the first time, but a 93rd minute header from Sergio Ramos sent the game to extra-time. Ronaldo scored and registered an assist in the additional 30 minutes to condemn Simeone’s side to a painful defeat. Two years later, the two Madrid sides played each other again in the final. It was another tightly contested affair, which went to a penalty shootout. Atletico’s Juanfran missed the only spot-kick, with Ronaldo scoring the winning penalty to secure a record-extending 11th Champions League title for Los Blancos.

Ronaldo wasn’t done haunting Atletico there, though. In the 2018/19 Champions League Round of 16, Simeone’s side faced Juventus, who had just signed the Portuguese stalwart from Real Madrid. Atletico won the first leg 2-0, leaving the Italian giants in a precarious position. Ronaldo was determined to make it through in the second leg, scoring a remarkable hat-trick to overturn the deficit.

1 Sevilla

Ronaldo scored a remarkable 27 goals in 18 appearances against Sevilla. This included five hat-tricks from May 2011 to May 2015. Memorably, he scored four in a 6-2 away win against the Andalusian club in May 2011. In this four-year period, he faced Sevilla eight times, scoring an unthinkable 18 goals. The last time Ronaldo played against Sevilla was in December 2017 – a game where he scored twice in a 5-0 victory.

There were obviously a lot of goals to choose from, but Ronaldo’s best goal against Sevilla was probably his left-footed strike in October 2013. He picked up the ball 25 yards away from the goal before sidestepping a defender and unleashing a powerful strike into the bottom corner past the helpless goalkeeper.

Information gathered from Transfermarkt – Correct as of 12/09/24.