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In summer, the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus was touted as 'THE' deal of the summer. Not only a sum of £105 million, which Juve paid for the then 33-year-old, but also the reaction of wide football world to this transfer, was immense.
The reason why they probably bought him is, that the Italian team wants to win the Champions League. CR7 is the biggest player of the competition ever. However, did the Italian record champion get the prime striker? Or has he already declined?
In this article, Ronaldo's statistics from this season are compared to the ones of the previous five years. In the end, there will be an analysis if Juve got what they hoped for.
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Goals and Assists
Cristiano is a goal scoring machine. Since he joined the “Los Blancos” in 2009, the player got at least 25 goals in the league alone per season. His best tally came in 14/15, when he scored 48 times in only 35 games for Real Madrid in La Liga.
In this campaign, Ronaldo already scored 19 goals in 26 games so far, which is his lowest goal to game number, for the last five years.
To compare those numbers, the probably most rational way would be to take a look at how many minutes the Portuguese needs to score, as he sometimes gets subbed off or on.
By looking at this chart, Ronaldo seems to have his worst season, when it comes to hitting the net.
Ronaldo was never known for his assists, but he still averaged around 12 a season at Real. In this season, the ex-Manchester United player is again on a good way, as he already assisted 10 league goals in the already mentioned 26 occasions.
It would make again, make sense to compare his numbers in a minute per assist ratio:
It shows that in Turin, the Portuguese is more of a team player than his last two seasons, at Madrid. He is on a good way to beat his best number, of 16 league assists a year.
'Mr. Champions League', is not only the record goal scorer of the competition, he also won the title five times, which is only topped by Paco Gento, who has one more victory. Ronaldo also was the most influential player in all those wins.
In this year’s campaign, the Portuguese only scored 4 and assisted, furthermore, 2 goals. To compare those numbers, a minutes per goals + assists ratio was used:
This year is by far the worst of Ronaldo’s usually insane Champions League runs. However, he could still turn up, as Cristiano is normally even better at knockout games. It is also possible that the hattrick against Atletico Madrid in the round of 16, has been his breakthrough in this year’s campaign too.
Influence on the team
CR7 is usually the best player in his club and the team's top scorer as well. He is not only influential in his numbers; the player, who came through the academy of Sporting Lisbon, is pure leader too, who often manages to carry the whole team with his ambition and determination. The fact, that he often brings the best out his teammates, is another reason, why Juve bought the 34 years old.
To have a good insight how influential an attacker is for his squad, you can compare his goals and assists to the number of goals the whole team scored. For Ronaldo’s league games so far it would like this:
This chart shows that Ronaldo has been a very big part of the team’s recent success. His contribution to the whole amount of league goals is only top, again, by his excellent 14/15 season.
It also appears that his "low" numbers are not only the striker’s but also the team’s “fault” as they are not scoring as many goals as Real Madrid.
Performance in big games
Ronaldo is probably the best big game player of the world. He always turns up when needed, especially in the Champions League. Such numbers cannot be put in a chart or statistic, but the attacker already proves, that he is still his old self, as the player scored three goals against Atletico. This helped the team to come back after a 2-0 loss away and secure them a place in the next round.
CR7 decided many games and gained points in favour of the Italian team. In the games against Parma and Sassuolo, just to name a few, Ronaldo made the difference as he contributed to all of the Juve goals.
Another great example was the clash against Napoli in the 7th round of the league. In this occasion he was not able to score on his own, but assisted all three goals, which secured the team a win.
His first title win also went a little bit under the radar. In a good match against Milan, which was played in Saudi Arabia, Juventus was able to obtain the Super Cup. And guess who was the only person on the scoresheet in the 1-0 victory? Cristiano Ronaldo.
Verdict
By looking at his stats, Ronaldo is still Ronaldo. Scoring most of the team’s goals and being very influential in the squad, Juve probably have been happy with his performances so far. Where he lacks, is the Champions League, there the attacker is way below his expected scoring record. In Europe, the Portuguese still has to turn up and with the knockout round incoming, he has still got his favourite kind of games left, to do so.
