Ronaldo's milestone UEFA Champions League goals

With his strike at Borussia Dortmund, Cristiano Ronaldo became just the fifth player to score 50 goals in 

the UEFA Champions League. UEFA.com looks back at his half-century.

It may have been a night to forget for Real Madrid CF at Borussia Dortmund, but Cristiano Ronaldo could take consolation from joining a select band of forwards when his 43rd-minute effort took him to 50 UEFA Champions League goals. He is only the fifth to reach the milestone – and the third fastest. UEFA.com reflects on his landmark goals to date and the elite company the 28-year-old Portugal player now keeps.

THE FIRST – Manchester United FC 7-1 AS Roma, 10/04/2007
It took Ronaldo 27 games to get off the mark in the competition proper but it was worth the wait. Cutting in from the right, he was invited to shoot by a backtracking Roma defence and did just that, firing a right-footed effort low past goalkeeper Doni. Five minutes later, he scored a second as United ran riot against a team that led the quarter-final tie 2-1 going into the Old Trafford second leg – he was on his way.

THE FINAL – Manchester United FC 1-1 Chelsea FC (aet, United win 6-5 on pens), 21/05/2008
Players talk of emotional roller coasters but few have experienced anything like this. The Moscow final was 26 minutes old when Ronaldo dropped off Michael Essien and leapt majestically to head Wes Brown's cross low into the corner. From that high (literally), he plummeted to the depths of despair when his shoot-out penalty was saved. John Terry's infamous slip and Edwin van der Sar's stop from Nicolas Anelka meant all that was soon forgotten. "I missed my penalty and it felt like the worst day of my life. Now it's the happiest," said Ronaldo.

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Ronaldo lets fly against Porto

THE WONDER GOAL – FC Porto 0-1 Manchester United FC, 15/04/2009
With the winger returning to his native Portugal, the spotlight inevitably shone bright on Ronaldo – and how he justified his star billing. With six minutes on the clock he collected the ball in midfield and, from 36.2m, let fly with a sensational right-footed screamer that arrowed into the very top left corner. "A fantastic goal, truly fantastic, the best I have scored," he said. Porto would have advanced to the last four with an equaliser but, shaken, they could not find one.

THE FREE-KICK – Arsenal FC 1-3 Manchester United FC, 05/05/2009
Eighteen months after showcasing his now trademark free-kick against Portsmouth FC, Ronaldo brought it to a grander stage: the UEFA Champions League semi-finals. As he lined up a free-kick wide on the right, a shot looked unlikely but the No7 is always up for a challenge. He struck through the ball, the vicious swerve sending Manuel Almunia one way and then the other – but too late as his effort crept inside the near post.

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Ronaldo completes his first hat-trick

THE HAT-TRICK – AFC Ajax 1-4 Real Madrid CF, 03/10/2012

Ronaldo had netted twice on 11 occasions in the UEFA Champions League before finally breaking his hat-trick duck earlier this season. The first was a predatory strike, the second a curving drive and the third a measured lob – all that was missing from completely exhibiting his repertoire was the free-kick and the prodigious leap cum bullet header.

Fastest to 50 UEFA Champions League goals

Ruud van Nistelrooy – 62 games

Lionel Messi – 66 games

Cristiano Ronaldo – 91 games

Raúl González – 97 games

Thierry Henry – 103 games

UEFA Champions League all-time leading scorers

Raúl González – 71 (142 games)

Lionel Messi – 59 (78)

Ruud van Nistelrooy – 56 (73)

Cristiano Ronaldo – 50 (91)

Thierry Henry – 50 (112)

Four-goal Lewandowski leaves Madrid reeling

Borussia Dortmund 4-1 Real Madrid CF

After Cristiano Ronaldo had cancelled out his early opener, Robert Lewandowski struck three unanswered goals in the second half.

Robert Lewandowski became the first player to score four goals in a UEFA Champions League semi-final match as Borussia Dortmund made an all-German final increasingly likely with a 4-1 home victory over Real Madrid CF.

The Bundesliga side dominated this semi-final first leg from start to finish and were unfortunate to see Lewandowski's early opener cancelled out by Cristiano Ronaldo's 50th goal in Europe's premier club competition. However, the Schwarzgelben responded fiercely, with Lewandowski registering a further three times in the second half to take his tally in this season's edition to ten and leave Madrid's 'Décima' dreams hanging by a thread.

Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp had asked for a special "BVB night" and the home fans duly obliged with a vociferous reception for their team, who began with obvious hunger. They almost took the lead when Marco Reus ran at the centre of Madrid's defence, beating Raphaël Varane and Pepe only to see his finish pushed aside by the outstretched hand of Diego López.

It proved to be no empty threat as Lewandowski found a deserved breakthrough for the hosts after eight minutes, stretching to touch in FC Bayern München-bound Mario Götze's cross. The Spanish Liga side's response was limited to set pieces, with Xabi Alonso afforded three opportunities to cross and Ronaldo's trademark spiralling drive being fisted away by Roman Weidenfeller.

Still, José Mourinho's men remained on the back foot, making it all the more frustrating for Dortmund when Ronaldo levelled proceedings two minutes before the interval. Individual mistakes were blamed for Madrid's downfall at the BVB Stadion on matchday three, but it was a Dortmund error this time, from Mats Hummels, which allowed Gonzalo Higuaín to surge in behind and tee up Ronaldo for his 12th UEFA Champions League goal of this campaign.

The danger was that the equaliser might puncture Dortmund's intensity, but Klopp's charges reacted just as they have throughout this year's tournament – with nerve and ambition.

Five minutes of the second period had elapsed by the time Lewandowski restored Borussia's advantage with his second of the night, turning on Reus's goal-bound attempt and slotting calmly past López. The crowd soon roared their team, and Lewandowski, on to a third as the prolific Polish international completed his treble on 55 minutes, again swivelling brilliantly on the spot before slamming emphatically into the roof of the net.

The famous Yellow Wall was baying for more goals, their incessant, deafening chanting spurring Dortmund on to more – and they would not be disappointed. The excellent İlkay Gündoğan almost added another when he slipped past three defenders before unleashing a left-footed shot that López did well to tip over, yet it was Lewandowski's night.

When Xabi Alonso bundled Reus over in the box on 66 minutes, there was no doubting Dortmund's top scorer as he rifled the resulting penalty down the middle for his 29th goal in his last 27 club outings to round off a brilliant two nights for the Bundesliga in Europe. Where Bayern had gone in their dismantling of FC Barcelona, Dortmund boldly followed.

1 Mario Götze and Dortmund moved on quickly 

There were suggestions that the stress of keeping his guilty secret about his summer defection to Bayern Munich explained Mario Götze's substandard showing against Málaga during the quarter-final. It was thus feared that the pressure triggered by Tuesday's leaking of what the German media have dubbed "der Transfer-Hammer" might crush the 20-year-old and possibly even upset the team dynamic. But Jürgen Klopp started the attacking midfielder, clearly convinced that the home fans would not turn on the turncoat and Götze is solid enough to deal with the extra scrutiny. The manager was quickly vindicated on both counts. Right from the start the zeal and zip of Dortmund proved their spirit was intact and Götze played his part, pressing with the same ferocious intensity of his team-mates and showing his class after only eight minute with a delicious cross for Robert Lewandowski to open the scoring. Clearly no one at Dortmund was dwelling on the youngster's shock move. Mind you, the issue will certainly resurface if – when – Dortmund meet Bayern in the final.

2 Robert Lewandowski could be much harder to replace 

Dortmund are expected to lose their top striker this summer but at least the Pole bolstered their bargaining power with this exquisite performance. The artful touch that preceded the smart finish for his second goal here was bettered by the drag-back past Pepe that gave him the space to rocket the ball into the net for his hat-trick. Such beguiling deadliness is rare and it is no wonder that all the top clubs in Europe are eyeing him up. Real Madrid, for one, would love to have a striker of this calibre.

3 Marco Reus is a wonderful system-wrecker

Football is simultaneously at its most systematised and its most chaotic at the highest level. It takes a special player to spread panic among meticulously drilled opponents. Cristiano Ronaldo can do it, of course, but so can Marco Reus and he demonstrated that with style on Wednesday night. His speed and dribbling skill, allied to Dortmund's ability to get him running on to the ball in lines that would impress the All Blacks, had Real Madrid's defenders abandoning their stations and scurrying hither and thither like children who had consumed far too much fizzy pop and no real clue how to cope. It would be rash to rule out Real scoring goals in the second leg at the Bernabéu but it is difficult to see them keeping both Reus and Lewandowski at bay. Borussia Dortmundare as good as through to the final.

4 Mats Hummels needs to cut out the silly mistakes 

There was no Götze-style palaver when Dortmund bought a young player from Bayern Munich four years ago. That is because the Bavarians were perfectly happy to let Mats Hummels go, reasoning that, although he had spent his entire youth at the club, he was not good enough to improve their senior team, for whom he played just once. That judgment has looked dodgy in recent seasons as Hummels helped Dortmund to two consecutive Bundesliga titles – but this season it is Hummels who has begun to look dodgy. He has suffered serious lapses on too many occasions this season, such as when he misjudged a humdrum punt upfield in the group game at Shakhtar Donestsk to gift a goal to Costa. His shoddy back pass that led to Ronaldo's equaliser heightened suspicions that he is not the man to bring new solidity to the defence of Barcelona, who are rumoured to be interested in him. Then again, one might also suggest there is no reason – other than financial, of course – for Hummels to go to Barcelona.

5 Bundesliga has proved itself the best league in Europe

The argument is over. Barcelona and Real Madrid are the best non-German teams in Europe and they were comprehensively beaten this week – shown to be inferior tactically, technically and physically. While the crushing victories were impressive, the manner of them was delightful. There is an infectious joy and admirable fairness about the way Bayern and, especially, Dortmund play, making their domination somehow more thrillingly human than the tika-taka tyrants. And it all unfolds in front of packed crowds who create atmospheres that are seldom experienced in, say, the Premier League.