life

Ronaldo started the season by lifting the Supercopa de España with Real Madrid, scoring two goals in a 4–4 away goals aggregate win against Barcelona. The goal in the first leg made him the first Madrid player in the history of El Clásico to score for the fourth game in a row at the Camp Nou,^[122] with the winning goal in the second leg, Ronaldo equalled the Real Madrid record of Iván Zamorano of scoring in five consecutive El Clásico matches.^[123] AS reported that Manchester City president Sheikh Mansour had made a bid of €200 million for Ronaldo in the summer, but Real Madrid turned the bid down.^[124] On 30 August, Ronaldo was second (tied with Lionel Messi) in the 2011–12 UEFA Best Player in Europe Award with 17 votes, behind winner Iniesta.^[125]

On 2 September 2012, Ronaldo scored his first league goal of the season in a 3–0 win over Granada, which was also his 200th career goal in league matches played in England, Spain and Portugal. He added another goal, which was his 150th goal for Real Madrid in all competitions in 149 matches played. This goal made him the 10th highest scorer for Real Madrid in all competitions. Ronaldo was substituted at the 63rd minute by team mate Higuaín, due to a minor thigh injury. Afterwards, Ronaldo claimed that he was unhappy with a "professional issue" after he refused to celebrate his 149th and 150th goals for the club. Ronaldo's agent, Jorge Mendes, insisted that he always knew that Ronaldo was unhappy with life at Real Madrid. Ronaldo dismissed the notion that his post-match declaration of "sadness" was related to a desire for a new and improved contract at the club. Real Madrid president, Florentino Pérez, claimed that he did not want to leave the club and that he was unhappy for other reasons. When Ronaldo returned to Real Madrid, after international duty, he stated he was focused on achieving further success with the club. Real Madrid coach José Mourinho believed that UEFA's decision to elect Iniesta as the best player in Europe in 2011–12 could have been one of the reasons behind Ronaldo's unhappiness.

On 18 September, Ronaldo scored his first Champions League goal of the season in a 3–2 victory over Manchester City. On 30 September, Ronaldo scored a hat-trick (including two penalties), his first La Liga hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 win over Deportivo de La Coruña. On 4 October, Ronaldo scored his first career hat-trick in the Champions League as he led Real Madrid to a 4–1 victory over Ajax. Continuing his fine form, he hit a brace the following week against Barcelona in a 2–2 draw at Camp Nou, which made him the first and only player to score in six consecutive El Clásicos.^[126]