The award for the player with the most goals at the end of the Serie A season is called the Capocannoniere. It was first awarded at the end of the 1923/24 season when Heinrich Schönfeld of Austria scored 22 goals for Torino.
The first Italian player to win the Capocannoniere was Mario Magnozzi the following season, as he netted 19 goals for Livorno. In more recent times, we have seen some of the greats of the game land the award.
Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Marco van Basten, Gabriel Batistuta, Francesco Totti and Zlatan Ibahimovic to name but a few. Last season the Capocannoniere was shared between Mauro Icardi and Ciro Immobile who scored 29 goals for Inter Milan and Lazio respectively.
While the Capocannoniere has been won by players from all over the world, there is one nationality which is missing from the list. Never has a player from Portugal finished as the top goal scorer in Serie A but could that be about to change this season?
Juventus shocked the football world when they landed the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo this summer. The Portuguese forward enjoyed a tremendous career at Real Madrid, scoring 450 goals in just 438 games, a truly remarkable record. Ronaldo has finished as the top scorer in the Champions League seven times, including each of the last six seasons.
As soon as Ronaldo moved to Juventus he was installed as the odds-on favourite by the bookmakers to finish the campaign as the top goal scorer. That has not changed but Ronaldo is yet to make the impact fans were expecting when he joined the Italian champions.
Juventus have played three matches this season and already sit top of Serie A, 2 points clear of second place Sassuolo. They have scored 7 goals in those three games but not one of them has come from Ronaldo. Should the former Manchester United man be worried he will fail to finish as top scorer in Serie A this season?
A look at the current top scorers in Serie A shows Marco Benassi and Krzysztof Piatek of Fiorentina and Genoa respectively both on 3 goals. Only the latter features in the top ten players considered by the bookmakers as candidates for the Capocannoniere this season. The only man to have scored more than a single goal who is a genuine threat to Ronaldo for the award this season is his team mate, Mario Mandzukic.
Players including Edin Dzeko, Ciro Immobile and Dries Mertens have one goal to their name while the Argentine duo of Mauro Icardi, Gonzalo Higuain are yet to get off the mark.
So, should Juventus fans be worried about the blank start Ronaldo has made in Serie A? The last time the Capocannoniere also won the league title was 2011/12, which suggests even if Ronaldo was to finish below another player in the top scorers chart, Juventus will still win the league.
In addition, Ronaldo took four league games to get his first goal in La Liga last season but still finished on 26 goals. Having enjoyed a break during the recent internationals, this weekend could see Ronaldo open his account for Juventus. Even if he fails to do so, it is too early to write off the Portuguese, as it is the other regular contenders for the Capocannoniere who are yet to open their account.