Champions League: Against Villarreal, Cristiano Ronaldo becomes the player who has played the most matches in C1

Another record for Cristiano Ronaldo. Established at the forefront of Manchester United’s attack to face Villarreal this Wednesday in the Champions League (9 p.m.), CR7 will become the record holder for the number of matches played in C1 with a 178th appearance in the competition. The Portuguese, who started his career in C1 on October 1, 2003, with a defeat in Stuttgart (2-1), when he was already wearing the Red Devils jersey, overtakes the former Real and Porto goalkeeper Iker Casillas . The second active player with the most Champions League appearances is Argentina’s Lionel Messi with 151 appearances.

Ronaldo also scored 135 goals in the event he won 5 times, making him the top scorer in the competition, again ahead of Lionel Messi who scored his 121st goal on Tuesday, with Paris SG against Manchester City. The Portuguese is also the author of the most prolific C1 campaign with 17 goals in the year of Real Madrid’s 10th victory in the competition, in 2014.