Cristiano Ronaldo broke yet another Champions League record on Tuesday night by making his 152nd appearance in the competition.
Ronaldo started Real Madrid’s semi-final second leg clash with Bayern Munich at the Bernabeu as the defending champions edged through 4-3 on aggregate.
And in the process Ronaldo set a new record for the most Champions League appearances by an outfield player, previously held by Barcelona legend Xavi.
His former Madrid team-mate Iker Casillas holds the outright record for most Champions League appearances with 167 but Ronaldo is now second, just 15 behind the goalkeeper.
Another ex-Real Madrid star Raul is fourth behind Casillas, Ronaldo and Xavi with 142 appearances while former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs (141) is in fifth place.
Casillas made 150 appearances in the competition with Madrid before making a further 17 after leaving for Porto.
It’s been a record-setting season for Ronaldo in the Champions League campaign as he became the first player to score in 11 straight games in the competition, a streak ended in the semi-final first leg last week.
Ronaldo is the all-time leading scorer in the competition with 120 goals in total from his 152 appearances, 20 ahead of Barcelona’s Lionel Messi.
The 33-year-old also holds the top three greatest goalscoring seasons in European Cup history with 17 in 2013-14, 16 in 2015-16 and 15 and counting this season enough for first, second and third place.
Ronaldo has 42 goals in 40 appearances in total this season and has netted 27 times in his last 19 games in all competitions for Real.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has won the competition four times – three with Madrid and once with Manchester United in the 2007-08 campaign.
Madrid are bidding for a third consecutive Champions League title having become the first team in history to successfully defend the competition last season.
Karim Benzema scored twice at the Bernabeu, taking advantage of an error from Bayern goalkeeper Sven Ulreich to see Madrid through to the final in Kiev.
Los Blancos will face either Liverpool or Roma in the 2018 final with the Premier League side 5-2 up on aggregate ahead of Wednesday evening’s second leg.