Ronaldo scored his first and only hat-trick for Manchester United in a 6 – 0 win against Newcastle United on 12 January 2008 , bringing United up to the top of the Premier League table . A month later , on 19 March , he captained United for the first time in a home win over Bolton , and scored both goals of the match . His second goal was his 33rd of the campaign , which bettered George Best 's total of 32 goals in the 1967 – 68 season , thus setting the club 's new single-season record by a midfielder . His 31 league goals earned him the Premier League Golden Boot , as well as the European Golden Shoe , which made him the first winger to win the latter award . He additionally received the PFA Players ' Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year awards for the second consecutive season . In the knockout stage of the Champions League , Ronaldo scored the decisive goal against Lyon , which helped United advance to the quarter-finals 2 – 1 on aggregate , and , while playing as a striker , scored with a header in the 3 – 0 aggregate victory over Roma . United advanced to the final against Chelsea in Moscow , where , despite his opening goal being negated by an equaliser and his penalty being saved in the shoot-out , Manchester United emerged victorious . As the Champions League top scorer , Ronaldo was named the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year . Ronaldo scored a total of 42 goals in all competitions during the 2007 – 08 season , his most prolific campaign during his time in England . He missed three matches after headbutting a Portsmouth player at the start of the season , an experience he said taught him not to let opponents provoke him . As rumours circulated of Ronaldo 's interest in moving to Real Madrid , United filed a tampering complaint with governing body FIFA over Madrid 's alleged pursuit of their player , but they declined to take action . FIFA president Sepp Blatter asserted that the player should be allowed to leave his club , describing the situation as " modern slavery " . Despite Ronaldo publicly agreeing with Blatter , he remained at United for another year . Ahead of the 2008 – 09 season , on 7 July , Ronaldo underwent ankle surgery , which kept him out of action for 10 weeks . Following his return , he scored his 100th goal in all competitions for United with the first of two free kicks in a 5 – 0 win against Stoke City on 15 November , which meant he had now scored against all 19 opposition teams in the Premier League at the time . At the close of 2008 , Ronaldo helped United win the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan , assisting the final-winning goal against Liga de Quito and winning the Silver Ball in the process . He subsequently became United 's first Ballon d'Or winner since George Best in 1968 , and the first Premier League player to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year
Ballon d'Or
2008 Ballon d'Or
Cristiano Ronaldo