When was Cristiano Ronaldo in his Prime?

CR7's unbelivable career may be coming to its eventual end but with over 2 decades spent at the pinnacle of the sport, he will forever be remembered as one of the game's all-time greats. A man of records, he is Europe's goalscoring GOAT, and has a trophy cabinet of dreams, serially winning in every country, but when, and where did he play his best football?

#ronaldo #cr7 #manchesterunited #realmadrid #juventus

[theretroroute]

Where does CR7 rank (all-time) for you?

[jansmit]

The Brazillian Ronaldo is the reason I started watching football... the Portugese Ronaldo is why I never stopped

[giyuwavy]

He’s been my favorite player since 07/08, and his entire career is a masterpiece

[jamesallinson]

2007/08 2011/12 and 2013/14 were his best seasons. He became are pure number 9 after a knee problem in 2014 and became more reliant on others to a greater extent to be effective than he was before.

[SinfulRepentant]

His time at Madrid is the type of career that is still unmatched imo, consider the goal ratio and the number of trophies he won, solo goals, freekicks, headers, penalties, dribbles, assists, box presence, long range goals, almost used to clutch everytime in big matches, left foot, right foot, influence on the pitch, off the pitch, even with Portugal what he achieved all these years despite never being the competition favourites, every single skill every single platform, he was the definition of PRIME.

[roy_mezz-awake]

Watching him with Benzema and Bale is such an absolute privilege many will forget, but not all. An absolute powerhouse attacking trio, Ronaldo with his efficiency all around, Benzema with a knack for scoring and Bale with unstoppable speed is the perfect combination, and it showed.

[ThePhenom]

Cristiano Ronaldo has had 4 primes
Only player to have more that one prime
He always preformed as the best even with different playstyles throughout his career

2005/06 - 2009/10 was his first prime
He played on the right wing, was exciting with his dribbling and skill moves, world class at playmaking and still kept a high level of goalscoring, excellent in the air and could use both feet
The most complete version of any footballer ever

2010/11 - 2014/15 was his second prime
He became the greatest goalscorer ever during this period and he was a winger and was still excellent at dribbling and passing, remained the best at skill moves and was still complete
This was the peak of Cristiano Ronaldo statistically
He moved to the left wing in 2012 (11/12 season) and became a left winger and was still the best at goalscoring.
This was a very feared version of Ronaldo and he was explos1ve during this period
He became the fastest footballers in the world

2015/16 - 2018/19 was his third prime
This was known as his clutch prime and is considered by many as the most feared version of any footballer because he always broke fans hearts with late goals and comeback hattricks and he took the biggest clubs apart so easily. He also kept on winnng and winning and showing what it means to be the greatest footballer ever. Dominating every competition in sight and owning UCL
This was the legendary Noodle - hair Ronaldo era

2019/20 - 2021/22 was his fourth
In this period he became a striker and was moved to the middle
He showed his longevity and he dominated 2020
He scored 31 league goals at the age of 35 and was worth €75M
He scored 30 league goals at 36 and scored 2 premier league hattricks at 37 and was nominated for the ballon d'or with an extremely weak team

Notice how his playstyle always changed during these and how he always adapted to different situations and still continued to remain on top of football
No player has ever experienced such changes in their career and still continued to remain at the highest level
We may never see this again
Cristiano Ronaldo will always be the best and most complete footballer ever 🐐

[yemi]

For me his prime is from 2012 - 2019. His ability was reduced compared his early years but his impact was at it's greatest e.g his hattricks against Atletico 2019 or Spain 2018.

[random-J]

Because of cr7 I didn't miss a Madrid game between 2012/13 to 2017/18. GOAT 🐐. 3 UCL IN A ROW SAYS IT ALL.

[Zak-wwzv]

Cristiano Ronaldo has been an elite player throughout his entire career and still is. His prime was far longer than the average player and somewhere between 2007-2015. He was phenomenal before 2007 and also after 2015 but between 2007 and 2015 is when he was elite in all aspects of his game.

[franticjudge]

11/12 is league Prime
14/15 is his statistical prime
06/07 is his playmaking prime
09/10 is his most complete
13/14 is overall prime imo

[dionysise]

I'd say his first couple of seasons in Madrid were his best. Mature and explosive as it gets.

[lwandomadikizela]

His peak is at Madrid. Before 30 he was breaking records and after 30 he was still breaking records. The only man who scored 100+ goals for a club having a one goal per game ratio. The all time top scorer for Madrid and second in the La Liga all time top scorer. Only Messi scored more. Like him or not he's still one of the greatest player of his generation.

[Hypocrisy.Allergic]

42 Assists in UCL edging Messi. This is one of the most insane things of Ronaldo. We take goals for granted but the fact he actually helped the team as well while scoring the most is insane. He is Mr Champions League.
most goals most assists most goals in QF SF F where he doubled Messi tally most hat tricks in UCL. Literally that is his pet trophy. 5 times in 9 years is 60%. This is so insane man...

[Ivander]

Love him or hate him, but Cristiano put in all the work to get to the top. I could have done with a little less theatrics but it sure was entertaining, and it created the perfect counterpart to Messi.

[nwgrizzlies]

My favorite era was winning 4 UCL’s in 5 seasons with Madrid. He was the top scorer of the competition every time, and set the 3 best individual goal scoring seasons in the UCL during those seasons as well. Our team was stacked, and with Ronaldo up top it was impossible for us to lose in those games. For me, clinching the 3 peat in 2018 made him the greatest of all time. He stepped up everytime we needed him in that era, and closed out his beautiful Madrid career on top of the world.

[danielhackett]

For me it was his 07-08 season. Scored nearly a goal a game which was unheard of in the Premier league at that point and he did it from Right midfield! Not winger, not on the left flank cutting in, right midfield! Incredible. He was a phenomenon around that time. His 2nd 'peak' was as a LW around 2012-14 where his shooting was simply godly.

[TheStrangeVisitor]

Any era. Every time he is on the pitch it's magical. His determination and defiance makes him magical.

[risingstar]

Tears roll down my cheek watching this. Where he started the people he started with, the position he started with, honestly speaking I can never chose anyone above this guy, he is the most complete player ever

[MorAodhan]

His best years as a complete player were probably '07/'08/'09. The dribbling, pace, power, whilst possessing everything else he's renowned for.