Cristiano Ronaldo made more history on Sunday (May 23) becoming the first player to finish the season as top scorer in three major leagues – England, Spain, and Italy.

The 36-year-old scored 29 goals this campaign, five more than second-placed Belgian Romelu Lukaku for champions Inter Milan.

The Portuguese striker was top scorer in England with Manchester United in 2008, and three times in Spain with Real Madird, 2011, 2014 and 2015.

But it is the first time in three seasons the former five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored the most goals.

Ronaldo scored 21 goals in his first season after joining in 2018 and 31 last campaign when he finished behind Lazio’s Ciro Immobile’s 36.

In all competitions, he has now scored 101 goals for Juventus.

On Sunday, he stayed on the bench in Juve’s final league game a 4-1 win over Bologna which secured a top-four finish and Champions League football next season.

“It was a shared choice, Ronaldo was tired after (playing in the Coppa Italia final) Wednesday,” said coach Andrea Pirlo.

There has been speculation about Ronaldo’s future with the club if they failed to reach the Champions League for the first time since 2012, after their nine-year league reign ended this campaign.

Gattuso falls short at Napoli

Coach Gennaro Gattuso missed out on Champions League football with Napoli by just one point, as he did with former club AC Milan two years ago.

Victor Osimhen’s return from injury had pushed the club towards elite European football but a 1-1 home draw against Hellas Verona on the final day saw them fall out of the top four and miss out.

Afterwards club president Aurelio De Laurentiis confirmed the Italian’s exit on Twitter.

Runners-up last season, Inter powered to a 19th Serie A title with just one defeat by Juventus in a blistering second half of the season.

Milan survive ‘Ibra’ absences

Milan shrugged off Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s absences to finish second on 79 points, 12 behind Inter and return to the top table of European football.

Ibrahimovic scored 15 goals in 19 games, missing the remainder through injury and coronavirus.

The 39-year-old played just 10 of 19 games in the second half of the campaign. Milan won just two games in his absence in that time.

A tense 2-0 win over Atalanta in their final game put them through to the Champions League for the first time since 2014, and set a new record for away wins in a Serie A season with 16.

Atalanta miss out on historic high

Gian Piero Gasperini’s side missed out on their bid to finish the season in a best-ever second place, days after losing out on their first trophy since 1963 in the Coppa Italia final.

A third consecutive season of Champions League football beckons despite the disappointment of dropping to third place after losing to Milan.

“We’re fighting against the top clubs who have a bigger budget than us. Money isn’t everything but it helps a lot,” said Gasperini.

Atalanta equalled their best-ever points tally, with 78 and third place on goal difference over Juventus.

-AFP