Cristiano Ronaldo is the most prolific goalscorer in history, so it makes sense that some legendary goalkeepers have shipped plenty against him.
The 39-year-old has scored more international goals than anyone else, more goals in European leagues than anyone else, more Champions League goals than anyone else and more goals for Real Madrid than anyone else. With almost 900 senior career goals, it’s fair to say that a fair few goalkeepers – included some all-time greats – have come a cropper against him.
Here’s every goalkeeper that’s conceded 10 or more times to Ronaldo.
=10. Gustavo Munua – 10 goals
During his early years at Real Madrid, Ronaldo came up against Uruguayan ‘keeper Munua eight times.
Ronaldo twice scored hat-tricks against Munua’s Levante, including in an 8-0 Copa del Rey thrashing, in which Karim Benzema also scored three. Bad day at the office, that.
=10. Gianluigi Buffon – 10 goals
The legendary Italian goalkeeper first came up against Ronaldo when he was a teenager in the Euro 2004 group stages. Buffon came out on top on that occasion, with the Azzurri winning 2-1 and keeping out the rising star after he’d been brought on at half-time.
They met again on seven more occasions in Real Madrid vs Juventus Champions League clashes between 2013 and 2018. Ronaldo scored on each and every occasion, including twice in the 2017 Champions League final and that overhead kick in the quarters a year later.
“I’ve unlimited admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo. He has improved with age,” Buffon said in 2018.
“He has changed his position, wasting less energy but he is just as lethal. In front of goal, he is a real assassin. The only player I’ve seen have this clarity when shooting on his own is David Trezeguet.”
The respect is clear as day, but Buffon did also state that Juventus “lost that DNA of being a team” after Ronaldo joined the club:
“We reached the Champions League final in 2017 because we were a side full of experience, but above all we were a single unit and there was this competition for places within the group that was very strong. We lost that with Ronaldo.”
=10. Andres Fernandez – 10 goals
Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in a 7-1 mauling of Osasuna the first time he faced Fernandez and went on to notch a further seven goals in eight further matches up against the Spaniard.
Fernandez also suffered the indignity of fumbling a Ronaldo free-kick, allowing it to squirm through his legs in a 2-0 Copa del Rey defeat.
=10. Manuel Neuer – 10 goals – Saved in shootout
Alongside Buffon, Neuer is the only other goalkeeper to feature in this list that never came up against Ronaldo in a league match.
Some keepers feature that feature here have a relatively respectable record against Ronaldo, but inevitably feature due to sheer volume of minutes and matches. The same can’t be said of German World Cup and two-time treble winner Neuer.
Neuer conceded 10 goals in nine matches up against Ronaldo, including five goals over two legs in the 2017 Champions League quarter-finals.
Ronaldo didn’t have it all his own way, though. Neuer saved his spot-kick when Bayern beat Madrid in the 2012 Champions League semis and kept a clean sheet when Germany thrashed Portugal 4-0 in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.
=10. Thibaut Courtois – 10 goals
The brilliant Belgian, arguably the best ‘keeper in world football right now, can console himself in knowing that all-time greats Buffon and Neuer have also conceded 10 goals to Ronaldo.
Courtois and Ronaldo faced off in eight Madrid derbies between 2011 and 2014.
Bragging rights were shared, but Los Blancos tended to get the better of Atletico – particularly the 2014 Champions League final, in which with Ronaldo notched a penalty. He also scored a hat-trick in a memorable 4-1 La Liga clash back in 2012.
However, Ronaldo did fail to score past Courtois the last time he came up against him – Portugal’s Euro 2020 Round of 16 elimination to Belgium, a 1-0 defeat.
=6. Diego Alves – 11 goals
The ex-Valencia ‘keeper was best known as a penalty-saving extraordinaire. He holds the record for the most penalties saved in La Liga history with 22, three of which were to deny Ronaldo. That’s some going.
And yet despite that, Ronaldo was able to score past him 11 times in 12 matches. He drew a blank on just three occasions up against Alves.
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=6. Hugo Lloris – 11 goals
A slightly surprising name, perhaps, given Ronaldo didn’t return to the Premier League until the former France captain was well into his twilight years at Tottenham.
Ronaldo scored home and away for Manchester United as they did the double over Spurs in 2021-22, including a memorable hat-trick in a 3-2 victory at Old Trafford.
Prior to that season, fate had conspired to see Lloris and Ronaldo face one another 13 times – Lyon faced Madrid in three successive Champions League campaigns between 2009 and 2012, Portugal faced France five times between 2015 and 2021, while Ronaldo scored home and away against Tottenham in the 2017-18 Champions League group stage.
=6. Jan Oblak – 11 goals
The fact that two great Atletico ‘keepers feature here is a testament to Ronaldo’s ability to come alive in Madrid derbies. Twice Ronaldo scored hat-tricks past Oblak.
He also faced Atletico with Juventus and Manchester United, as well as Slovenia with Portugal – Oblak denied Ronaldo from the penalty spot in their recent Euro 2024 clash but was unable to repeat the trick in the shootout.
The pair have faced off 21 times. No ‘keeper in history has played more games against Ronaldo.
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=3. Claudio Bravo – 12 goals
Only Lionel Messi has scored more goals in El Clasico than Ronaldo, and yet Bravo is the only Barcelona ‘keeper to feature here.
Eight of Ronaldo’s 18 goals against Barcelona were scored past Victor Valdes, who doesn’t quite make this list.
He scored three Clasico goals during Bravo’s brief stint at Camp Nou, but the majority of his goals against the Chilean came in his Real Sociedad days – including one hat-trick and three braces.
Bravo actually kept a clean sheet in his last meeting with Ronaldo, though – a 0-0 draw between Chile and Portugal in the 2017 Confederations Cup.
The two-time Copa America hero saved all three of Portugal’s penalties in the shootout, too, although Ronaldo didn’t take one.
=3. Sergio Alvarez – 12 goals
Celta Vigo’s Alvarez faced Ronaldo nine times between 2012 and 2017. He never kept a clean sheet and managed to keep Los Blancos’ iconic No.7 out just twice.
Ronaldo scored two hat-tricks against him, which came in back-to-back meetings. Brutal.
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=3. Ruben Martinez – 12 goals
This list is full of ‘keepers who endured a miserable time of it against Ronaldo, but none more so than Martinez.
He faced off against Ronaldo’s Madrid with five different clubs – Malaga, Rayo Vallecano, Almeria, Levante, Deportivo La Coruna – on nine occasions and was on the losing side every time.
The aggregate score was 33-4, with Ronaldo responsible for 12 of those goals. He averaged a goal past Martinez every 67 minutes and set the tone against one of his favourite victims by scoring a hat-trick in their first meeting, a 4-0 Real Madrid victory over Malaga back in 2011.
2. Javi Varas – 13 goals
Both Ronaldo and his eternal rival Messi have scored more goals against Sevilla than any other club. So we’re not surprised to see a representative from the Rojiblancos up near the top.
Varas, a homegrown native of Seville, actually only faced Madrid four times with his boyhood club. But they included back-to-back 6-2 defeats, in which Ronaldo scored four and three. Ouch.
He went on to concede a further five goals against Ronaldo while turning out for Celta Vigo and Las Palmas.
1. Gorka Iraizoz – 15 goals
Iraizoz was a dedicated club servant to Athletic Bilbao for a decade. He made over 300 La Liga appearances for the Basque giants between 2007 and 2017.
Unfortunately for him, that meant regularly facing both Messi and Ronaldo in their absolute prime. Gulp.
He’s Messi’s second favourite victim, having conceded 18 goals to the Argentinian, and Ronaldo’s favourite with 15.
He faced Ronaldo’s Madrid 14 times in La Liga, and did come out on top in a couple of 1-0 victories at San Mames. But he invariably tended to be on the losing side – with a couple of heavy defeats for good measure.
Ronaldo scored hat-tricks in 5-0 and 5-1 wins at the Bernabeu and a further nine goals past Iraizoz.
