Home Football Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

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Cristiano Ronaldo tells agent he wants to join Premier League club

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score again on Sunday night, hitting a blank as Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a 3-0 triumph over Las Palmas at the Bernabeu.

Whilst his team took the three points, Ronaldo was left visibly frustrated as his La Liga goal drought continues. He has just 1 goal in 630 minutes of domestic action so far this season.

It has to be said that he is the top goalscorer in the Champions League with six goals and has also scored this season in the Spanish Super Cup and for Portugal, but why is he struggling so much in La Liga?

From 48 shots, including eight against Las Palmas, he has scored just once. This gives him a conversion rate of just 2.08%, the lowest of any player to have scored in Europe’s Top 5 leagues so far this season.

His body language doesn’t look good. When teammates don’t give him the ball he looks frustrated and he often fails to celebrate with the other players when one of them scores.

At the end of matches, the four time Ballon d’Or winner tends to head straight down the tunnel without embracing the opposition or the fans either. As a player who lives to score goals, the drought is clearly seriously bothering him.

Ronaldo was banned for Madrid’s first four league games for pushing a referee in the aforementioned Super Cup win, and has failed to find his stride since coming back.

Madrid have struggled in that period too, with losses to the likes of Real Betis and Girona meaning they are already 8 points behind leaders Barcelona.

They don’t look as strong as last season and have also had something of an injury crisis to deal with in recent months. Cristiano also voiced his displeasure at some of the club’s transfer business in midweek.

Real opted to sell important squad players such as Alvaro Morata, Pepe and James Rodriguez in the summer, replacing them with young, but not necessarily proven talent.

“We’re not in a great moment right now, it’s bad because we are losing and we are used to winning,” he said. “Morata, Pepe and James Rodriguez made us stronger – now the team is younger.”

So, the question is – is this the start of Ronaldo’s decline? Whilst it’s natural that at 32 he will begin to slow down a little, we still expect him to hit form soon.

Throughout his career he has silenced doubters, and with a fifth Ballon d’Or very likely to be on it’s way, we’re sure that there is plenty of life left in Ronaldo yet still.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

 

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

Read more about Real Madrid and La Liga

Cristiano Ronaldo's goal drought continues, is Madrid star on the decline?

Read more about Real Madrid at realmadrid.com.

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