Ronaldo makes history with 500th goal

Cristiano Ronaldo on Wednesday equaled Raul’s all-time goals record for Real Madrid and took his career tally to 501 with two against Malmo in Sweden.

The Portugal international opened the scoring in the Champions League Group A match when he latched on to Isco’s pass and clipped the ball home.

The 30-year-old added a second late on with a simple finish after he was teed up by substitute Lucas Vazquez.

Ronaldo’s second saw him draw level with Raul’s club total of 323 goals.

“To equal this record for Real Madrid is great. I am glad to come to Sweden and score again,” Ronaldo said.

“The most important thing is to win. It was a tough game, Malmo were difficult, but we controlled the game and scored two goals so we are happy.”

Real Madrid’s victory over the Swedish champions maintained their 100% start in the Champions League, having beaten Shakhtar Donetsk 4-0 in their opening match thanks to a Ronaldo hat-trick.

Paris St-Germain are behind Real on goal difference after they also made it back-to-back wins with a 3-0 victory over Shaktar in Lviv.

Read also: Messi beats Ronaldo to win Europe best player

Ronaldo’s magical numbers

Former Spain striker Raul, now with New York Cosmos, hit 323 goals in 741 appearances for Real between 1994 and 2010.

However, Ronaldo has needed a mere 308 games to match him having joined Real from Manchester United in July 2009.

He has also matched Raul’s Champions League tally of 66 goals for Real Madrid and is the competition’s top scorer with 82 goals – five more than Barcelona’s Lionel Messi on 77.

Ronaldo’s second goal was the 500th of his career in his 753rd match for club and country.

Real Madrid coach Rafael Benitez said he hopes “Ronaldo doesn’t ever stop scoring” and that Real “can keep benefiting from him”.

Real defender Alvaro Arbeloa praised Ronaldo’s achievements as “incredible” and says his team-mate “is already a myth and a legend of Real Madrid”.

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