Why Cristiano Ronaldo Is Real Madrid's Most Important Player in Champions League

Despite all the money they have lavished on subsequent signings, Cristiano Ronaldo remains Real Madrid’s most important player. The number of goals he is able to score this season will go a long way towards determining whether they can become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy.

Ronaldo’s worth to the side was illustrated by his first-half performance in the derby defeat to Atletico on Saturday. Returning to the starting XI after an 18-day rest period, he was the driving force behind the swift and incisive counter attacks that yielded a number of good chances during the first 45 minutes of play.

He won and converted the penalty that levelled the scores and fired a well-struck effort just over the bar from the edge of the area. He provided Karim Benzema with two excellent chances and laid on another for James Rodriguez. His direct dribbling was a constant menace to the Atletico defence.

He tired after the break and, like the rest of the team, was far less effective thereafter, but the first half had already provided a neat snapshot of what a fit Ronaldo brings to the side.

It also, however, demonstrated Madrid’s reliance on his goalscoring ability.

Benzema is going through a tough patch at the moment. Per Manu Sainz of AS, the French international has scored just two goals in his last 18 appearances for Madrid.

In part this is due to the team’s tactics. Benzema has a more selfless role than most strikers, with his off-ball movement and hold-up play vital in creating space for Ronaldo and Gareth Bale. But when he is failing to take advantage of chances like the first one Ronaldo laid on for him against Atletico, his lack of goals is clearly due to more than just the system.

Bale scored 26 goals in his final year at Tottenham Hotspur and managed a highly respectable total of 22 in his first season in Madrid. Yet Ronaldo clearly remains the team’s primary goal threat.

Ronaldo has averaged better than a goal a game in both league and Champions League action since joining Madrid from Manchester United in 2008. He has scored a goal every 81 minutes on average (author calculation).

His record-breaking 17-goal tally in last season’s Champions League represented over 41 percent of Madrid’s total in the competition and included strikes in each and every one of the knockout rounds.

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Per Marca, more than 14 goals in this season’s Champions League would see him overhaul Raul as Madrid’s all-time top scorer in continental competition. He sits behind just Raul, Alfredo Di Stefano and Santillana in the club’s league-goal rankings.

Ronaldo’s average of 7.2 shots per match represented nearly 37 percent of Madrid’s overall shot output last season, as per Whoscored.com. He is the player teammates look to when goals are required and is more than content to take on the responsibility.

Carlo Ancelotti currently has a number of tactical issues to iron out. Toni Kroos and Rodriguez are still adapting to their new roles, the team lacks balance and some of the defending from both open play and set pieces so far this season has left much to be desired.

Ronaldo’s output will be worthless if Madrid continue to concede goals like those they let in during the recent defeats to Atletico and Real Sociedad.

But if Ancelotti is able to provide him with a solid supporting structure, it will be the goals of Ronaldo that are the difference between success and failure for Madrid in this season’s Champions League.

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