When one of the biggest teams in the world goes through a rough patch, it’s easy to turn to their best goal scorer as the issue at hand.
After their winter break, Real Madrid struggled to find their form. Losing to city rivals Atletico Madrid in the league and the Copa brought criticism from Real’s mans and Cristiano Ronaldo not scoring in three consecutive games made people question his form.
But the world’s current best put a staggering five past Granada, and scored again just three days later away to Rayo Vallecano. So, has Ronaldo got his confidence back?
Because of the type of player Ronaldo is, so much is expected of him. Three games without a goal is considered a drought, which shows his talent. He now has 300 goals to his name for Real Madrid: bear in mind he has only been there for five years. He has scored these goals in just just 288 games.
In mid January, Cristiano found the back of the net twice against Getafe, yet was uncharacteristically sent off in Real’s next game against Cordoba. Just over a month prior to that, he topped the table for most hat-tricks scored in La Liga. This record has been broken once again, but by a young fella you may have heard of – Lionel Messi.
After the sending off, Real Madrid faced Atletico Madrid but couldn’t match their rivals as Atleti ran out comfortable 4-0 winners. Real returned to winning ways against Deportivo, but it would not be until a Champions League game against Schalke for Cristiano to find the back of the net again.
Going by some of his reactions on the pitch, he does strive to be the main man at Real Madrid. His frustration at others scoring instead of himself, such as Bale’s goal against Levante from Ronaldo’s rebound, was widely criticised.
He would go on to score in his next three games, but it is the five at Granada that has people talking. This seems to be his turning point for the dying stages of this season. It has been a boost for not only the club, but for Ronaldo himself.
But let’s be honest, Cristiano’s drop in form is something most forwards could only dream of. Ronaldo defines prolific. He is breaking records left, right and centre at Real Madrid. He has the best goal ratio in La Liga, has scored on every day of the week, and scored in every minute of a game.
He may be back to his blistering best, but his worst is still better than most. There is clearly a lot of pressure on Cristiano to churn out goals consistently, and for the most part, he lives up to expectation.
But a slight dip in form simply shows he is only human after all.
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