Cristiano Ronaldo: 'I don't doubt I will go down in football history'

Real Madrid star is top scorer of all-time in European competition

Ronaldo's hat-trick turned the quarter-final tie on its head (Getty)

Real Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo says he is in "no doubt" that he will go down as one of the best players ever to play football.

Ronaldo, 31, is set to return to the Real Madrid starting XI against Manchester City on Wednesday night having missed the last three matches through injury. He enters the game already as the highest scoring player in European Cup/Champions League history. With 93 goals he is 10 goals ahead of rival Lionel Messi, while his ratio of goals since joining Real Madrid (1.06 per game) is better than any other striker.

Ronaldo, speaking to Uefa.com, was asked how he thought history would remember him in the decades to come.

"I don't doubt that I will go down in footballing history," he said. "Whether people like it or not, the numbers speak for themselves. I will be up there with the rest. Some like it more, some like it less, but I have no doubt that I'm already in the history of football."

Ronaldo, who has 47 goals in 44 matches this season, enters the game against City knowing that a win will be enough for Zinedine Zidane's team to set up a rematch of the 2014 final against local rivals Atletico Madrid.