If Real Madrid’s early season troubles have taught us anything, it’s that Cristiano Ronaldo is still an extremely important player for Los Blancos.
Of course, that’s a pretty self-evident statement because any team on earth – even one as loaded with attacking talent as Zinedine Zidane’s crew – would miss the unique goal-poaching talents of the club’s all-time leading scorer.
But Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with Levante, when Madrid could muster no more than Lucas Vazquez’s scrambled goal despite creating hatfuls of chances and sending more than 30 crosses into the opposition penalty area, made it blindingly obvious just how crucial Ronaldo remains.
Considering his unquenchable appetite for goals, it’s pretty hard to imagine Los Blancos failing to win at the Bernabeu this weekend if Ronaldo had been playing.
Occupying the centre forward position Ronaldo would usually patrol, Gareth Bale alone had more than enough chances to give his team a comfortable victory, but he couldn’t take any of them. Ronaldo, as a far better finisher and a far more relentless goal hunter than Bale, surely would have taken at least one of those opportunities a day, with it, three points.
The importance of Ronaldo takes on even greater significance this season following the controversial summer sale of Alvaro Morata to Chelsea.
Last year, Zidane could and did opt to rest his Portuguese ace (or, as at present, lose him through suspension) and replace him with a similarly goal hungry striker.
Morata, it should not be forgotten, outscored both Bale and Benzema last season despite receiving far fewer minutes on the field of play, and allowing him to leave without signing a replacement was a surprisingly risky move from a club with such deep resources – even more so when you remember that James Rodriguez, another regular on the scoresheet, also departed and his replacement, Dani Ceballos, has never been particularly prolific.
Gareth Bale has his shot saved by Levante stopper Raul Fernandez
The biggest problem for Zidane is that, unlike Ernesto Valverde at Barcelona with Lionel Messi, he will have to give Ronaldo plenty of rest this season.
Now 32 years old, Ronaldo has admitted he was only able to reach the end of last season in such flying form because he had been given a significant amount of time off over the course of the campaign thanks to Zidane’s rotation policy.
The same will apply over the coming months, so Zidane will have to leave out Ronaldo and hope that Karim Benzema and Bale – with the help of others such as Marco Asensio and Isco – deliver the goods on at least a dozen occasions in La Liga, where they have already surrendered a four point advantage to Barcelona and really can’t afford too many more slip-ups.
Of course, it would be ridiculous to write off reigning Spanish and European champions Real Madrid in mid-September, and the good news is that Bale and Benzema are unlikely to continue their current poor form for much longer (although the injury sustained by Benzema this weekend, worryingly, places an even heavier burden on Ronaldo’s shoulders).
But there is without doubt a genuine cause for concern. Ronaldo, it’s worth betting any money, will be good for around 30 goals again this season and he will play a match-winning role on many occasions. We know that.
But the question is what will happen when he’s not there, and so far the signs are not good.
