Creating for others isn’t what Cristiano Ronaldo is renowned for.
In the decade-plus of Ronaldo versus Messi debates, Ronaldo’s lack of playmaking was considered a strong argument in Messi’s favour, with the Argentine setting assist records galore throughout his career.
While Ronaldo’s career will be best remembered for finishing moves rather than incisive passing, his assist tallies are still impressive.
Along all those years as a Ballon d’Or favourite in the online betting markets, the Portuguese star naturally made plenty of goals for his teammates.
In the earlier stages of his career, Ronaldo was a tearaway winger, suffering from a case of style over substance.
In his pomp, he scored at an historic rate, while still possessing the pace and dribbling ability to go alone to either score himself or put it on a plate for teammates like Karim Benzema, Angel di Maria, Mesut Ozil and Gareth Bale.
As his assist numbers below show, Ronaldo became a goal poacher in his final years in Europe.
His goal creation metrics tumbled, and his overall impact on his team’s live betting chances decreased considerably. His decline was so stark he opted to move to Saudi Arabia.
How Many Assists Does Ronaldo Have In His Career?
Cristiano Ronaldo has 238 assists in his club career across spells with Sporting, Manchester United, Real Madrid, Juventus and Al-Nassr.
Of those 225, 131 came during his time in the Spanish capital, with the 2014-15 campaign being his most prolific from a goal creation point of view with 23 assists across all competitions.
By the time Ronaldo reached Turin, he was doing little other than scoring goals. He had 22 assists over three seasons, including just four in his final campaign with the Old Lady.
Back at Manchester United, the trend continued, with only three goals created in his lone full season in his second Old Trafford spell. A tally of 15 assists in 64 games for Al-Nassr represented an uptick from Ronaldo's late-career norms.
Despite a stark change in his role, Ronaldo still sits fifth all-time in career club assists behind Messi, Thomas Muller, Luis Suarez and former teammate Di Maria.
Of course, this statistic has only been measured since the turn of the century, meaning it is not a full representation of football history. Several players from past generations are bound to have bettered Ronaldo’s tally.
How Many Assists Does Ronaldo Have For Portugal?
Cristiano Ronaldo has a total of 46 assists for Portugal in 208 matches.
His goal creation has been spread relatively evenly across different competitions, though World Cup qualifying has been where he has recorded the most assists.
Ronaldo’s statistics for Portugal are spectacular. He has, however, faced some criticism for beating up inferior opponents during qualifying campaigns and international friendlies to bolster his numbers.
In tournament play, he has still produced at an all-time great level, though, and his assists have come at a similar rate in the Euros and World Cup compared to other competitions.
He has 11 assists in 48 appearances across World Cup and Euros play.
How Many Champions League Assists Does Ronaldo Have?
Cristiano Ronaldo has 42 Champions League assists in 183 appearances for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Juventus.
Ronaldo pips his long-time foe Lionel Messi to the honour of most assists in Champions League history (Messi has 40).
Angel di Maria (38), Neymar (33) and Ryan Giggs (31) are the only other players with more than 30 assists in the competition.
Ronaldo’s highest assist total in a Champions League campaign was six in 2016-17. He had five in 2006-07 and 2013-14.
Ronaldo Assist Records
-
Most assists in Champions League history
-
Most recorded assists for Portugal since the statistic was first measured
-
Second-most assists in Real Madrid history behind Karim Benzema (Ronaldo previously held top spot)
Ronaldo Assists By Club
-
Sporting – 6 assists
-
Manchester United – 64 assists
-
Real Madrid – 131 assists
-
Juventus – 22 assists
-
Al-Nassr – 15 assists
Ronaldo Portugal Assists By Competition
-
Friendlies – 12 assists
-
World Cup Qualification – 14 assists
-
Euros Qualification – 6 assists
-
Euros – 9 assists
-
World Cup – 2 assists
-
Nations League – 2 assists
-
Confederations Cup – 1 assist
Ronaldo Assists By Season
-
Sporting, 2002-03 – 6 assists
-
Manchester United, 2003-04 – 8 assists
-
Manchester United, 2004-05 – 9 assists
-
Manchester United, 2005-06 – 8 assists
-
Manchester United, 2006-07 – 14 assists
-
Manchester United, 2007-08 – 8 assists
-
Manchester United, 2008-09 – 12 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2009-10 – 10 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2010-11 – 18 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2011-12 – 15 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2012-13 – 13 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2013-14 – 17 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2014-15 – 23 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2015-16 – 15 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2016-17 – 12 assists
-
Real Madrid, 2017-18 – 8 assists
-
Juventus, 2018-19 – 11 assists
-
Juventus, 2019-20 – 7 assists
-
Juventus, 2020-21 – 4 assists
-
Manchester United, 2021-22 – 3 assists
-
Manchester United/Al-Nassr, 2022-23 – 4 assists
-
Al-Nassr, 2023-24 - 13 assists
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
