Just last week we posted an article looking at the betting odds and the general opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to break the group stage scoring record in Real Madrid’s last group match against FC Copenhagen. And as you may have heard by now, he indeed pulled it off. Continuing the scoring tear he’s been on of late, Ronaldo knocked in a 48th minute goal for his 9th of the group stage—a new record.
Now seems like as good a time as any to turn our attention to the next potential goalscoring achievement: Will Cristiano Ronaldo lead the Champions League in scoring? He certainly seems like he could reach that level at this point, though Zlatan Ibrahimovic is right on his heels and Leo Messi will always be a threat.
The odds, however, are in Ronaldo’s favor at this early stage. At Betfair, a sports betting site featuring up-to-date odds on any number of football competitions and scenarios, Ronaldo leads all candidates with 1/2 odds to be top goalscorer. Ibrahimovic is behind him at 7/2, which are fairly tempting odds, actually, given that he was on even par with Ronaldo until the final game of the group stage. As for Messi, he’s sitting at 9/2 odds. Sergio Aguero has 4th best odds at 14/1, with Robert Lewandowski and Neymar even with 18/1 odds at the 5th spot.
Of course, these things can be a bit tricky to predict. Whereas entire team outlooks can be fairly reliable, there’s no telling when an individual player will have a poor match, when a minor injury might occur, and so on. But these odds are a strong reflection not just of Cristiano Ronaldo’s talents in general, but of his superb play of late for both Real Madrid and the Portuguese national team.
If Ronaldo can stay on top in the goalscoring arena, it will help Real Madrid continue moving toward success in Champions League play. Not only that, but he could also keep on narrowing the gap that Messi has spent the last year or two opening up as the (largely) undisputed world’s top player. Stay tuned.
CR7 will be the top goal scorer.
cr7 will surely make the top.