still carrying on

Ronaldo made his Madrid debut on 21 July in a 1–0 win over Shamrock Rovers. His first goal came a week later with a penalty in Madrid's 4–2 win over LDU Quito.^[93] On 29 August, Ronaldo capped his La Liga debut with a goal, scoring Real's second from the penalty spot in a 3–2 home win against Deportivo La Coruña.^[94] On 15 September, Ronaldo scored two free kicks in a 5–2 away victory over Zürich, his first Champions League goals for Real.^[95] He broke a Madrid club record when he scored in a league match against Villarreal and thus became the first ever player to score in his first four La Liga appearances.^[96]

An ankle injury suffered on 10 October, while Ronaldo was on international duty with Portugal against Hungary, kept him out until 25 November, which in turn caused him to miss both of Madrid's Champions League group stage matches againstMilan.^[97][98] Ronaldo made his first post-injury start in a 1–0 El Clásico defeat to Barcelona on 29 November. On 6 December, he was sent off for the first time in his Madrid career during Real's 4–2 victory against Almería, a match which also saw him miss a penalty. He was carded first for removing his shirt during a goal celebration, then for kicking out at an opponent three minutes later.^[99]

Ronaldo was second in the 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year award and also second in the 2009 Ballon d'Or award. On 5 May 2010, Ronaldo scored his first Real Madrid hat-trick in an away game against Mallorca. Although his first season at Real Madrid ended trophyless, Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuaín scored 53 league goals during the course of the season and became Real's highest scoring league duo in their history.^[100]

2010–11 season

With the departure of Raúl during the summer of 2010, Ronaldo was handed the number 7 jersey for Real Madrid.^[101] On 23 October 2010, Ronaldo scored four goals against Racing de Santander,^[102] the most goals he has ever scored in a single match.^[103] This completed a goalscoring run of six consecutive matches (three in La Liga, one in the Champions League, and two for Portugal) in which Ronaldo scored in each match, totalling 11 goals, which is the most Ronaldo has scored in a single month. Before Real Madrid's 5–0 defeat by Barcelona at the Camp Nou, Ronaldo scored his second La Liga hat-trick of the season in a 5–1 win over Athletic Bilbao.^[104] His final match of the calendar year saw him score a hat-trick in an 8–0 trashing of Levante in the Copa del Rey