In 2008, Cristiano Ronaldo won his first-ever Ballon d’Or.
It would mark the beginning of a 10-year dominance between himself and Lionel Messi for the award which eventually led to an intense professional rivalry that drove them both to the very summit of the European game.
Ronaldo’s 2008 will be remembered as the year his transformation from a boy obsessed with flicks and tricks into a relentless and deadly striker was finally complete.
An Unlikely Catalyst
Manchester United were the reigning Premier League champions.
In 2006/07, Ronaldo had delivered his best season to date, scoring 23 goals along his journey from wide midfielder to potent attacker.
The unlikely catalyst for CR7’s incredible development in front of goal came at Fratton Park, Portsmouth in August 2007.
United’s second game of the season was heading for a 1-1 draw when Ronaldo clashed with Portsmouth’s Richard Hughes in the 85th minute – Ronaldo appearing to stick his head into the midfielder’s face. He was shown a red card and hit with a three-match ban.
The international break loomed and Ronaldo was unable to play for United for a month. In his free time – the Portuguese star focused on extra training and enlisted the help of the Red Devils’ coach Rene Meulensteen. The main objective was to work on the forward’s finishing.
They studied videos of former strikers including Ruud van Nistelrooy until the point it clicked with the Portugal star before setting up a series of shooting drills to sharpen his awareness of positioning and scoring from different angles inside the box.
When the Premier League finally resumed – Ronaldo was a different beast.
The Goal Machine
Ronaldo took the Premier League by storm. By the end of 2007, he had already scored 13 goals in just 16 appearances. But it was in 2008 that he truly hit his stride, netting 18 times in his final 18 appearances of the campaign.
The season drew to a close with Ronaldo scoring 31 league goals in 34 games having also provided 7 assists. He finished as the top scorer across the five big European leagues with Mallorca’s Dani Güiza a close second on 27 strikes in Spain’s La Liga. Manchester United were Champions again as they finished two points ahead of Chelsea.
Yet it was Champions League glory Ronaldo craved most. He drove United forward and scored eight European goals in 11 appearances. Ronaldo found the net early in the final, rising to meet Wes Brown’s floated cross as United beat Chelsea on penalties to claim only their third-ever European Cup – a maiden Champions League title for Ronaldo.
If not for a surprise FA Cup quarter-final defeat to Portsmouth, Ronaldo would likely be remembered for his role in a treble-winning campaign. He finished the season having played 49 games and scoring 42 goals in all competitions.
Following the 2008/09 season, Ronaldo finally completed his £80 million move to Real Madrid with Manchester United credited for building a relentless attacker who would go on to score a remarkable 450 goals in 438 games for Real Madrid.
2008 Ballon d’Or Top 20
| No | Name | Country | Pos | League | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal | FW | England | Manchester United |
| 2 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | FW | Spain | Barcelona |
| 3 | Fernando Torres | Spain | FW | England | Liverpool |
| 4 | Iker Casillas | Spain | GK | Spain | Real Madrid |
| 5 | Xavi | Spain | MD | Spain | Barcelona |
| 6 | Andrey Arshavin | Russia | MD | Russia | Zenit Saint Petersburg |
| 7 | David Villa | Spain | FW | Spain | Valencia |
| 8 | Zlatan Ibrahimović | Sweden | FW | Italy | Internazionale |
| 9 | Kaká | Brazil | MD | Italy | Milan |
| 10 | Steven Gerrard | England | MD | England | Liverpool |
| 11 | Marcos Senna | Spain | MD | Spain | Villarreal |
| 12 | Emmanuel Adebayor | Togo | FW | England | Arsenal |
| 13 | Wayne Rooney | England | FW | England | Manchester United |
| 14 | Sergio Agüero | Argentina | FW | Spain | Atlético Madrid |
| 15 | Frank Lampard | England | MD | England | Chelsea |
| 16 | Franck Ribéry | France | MD | Germany | Bayern Munich |
| 17 | Samuel Eto’o | Cameroon | FW | Spain | Barcelona |
| 18 | Gianluigi Buffon | Italy | GK | Italy | Juventus |
| 19 | Michael Ballack | Germany | MD | England | Chelsea |
| 20 | Cesc Fàbregas | Spain | MD | England | Arsenal |
Trivia
Cristiano Ronaldo’s eight Champions League goals made him the competition’s top scorer in 2007/08 – two strikes ahead of Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Lionel Messi all with six.
Lionel Messi’s 16 goals in 2007/08 would be his lowest total for 14 years – eventually registering just 11 times for Paris Saint-Germain in 2021/22.
Fernando Torres’ 24 Premier League goals remains the 5th most strikes in a single campaign for Liverpool behind Robbie Fowler (28 and 25), Luis Suarez (31) and Mohamed Salah (32)
