Remembering the day: Cristiano Ronaldo made his Champions League debut

Cristiano Ronaldo is arguably the best player to play in the Champions League and 17 years ago he made his debut.

On October 1 in the 2003/02 season, during his time at Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo made his first appearance in the Champions League.

The then-18-year old started and played full 90 minutes of Man United’s clash against Stuttgart in the group stages of the competition.

While the match ended in a defeat to the Red Devils, the Portuguese managed to make some impact as he earned a penalty, converted by Ruud van Nistelrooy, which led to his side’s only goal in the 2-1 loss.

Ronaldo has since won five Champions League titles in total – one with Man United and four with Real Madrid.

CR7 also boasts a huge number of records in the competition some of which are most goals (128), most goals scored in a single season (17), first to reach the 100-goal mark, only player to have scored in three finals, and joint-most final appearances (6).

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