Cristiano Ronaldo Given Lowest Rating After Real Madrid's Draw at Sporting Gijon

Real Madrid's season got off to a laboured start as they drew 0-0 with Sporting Gijon—with Cristiano Ronaldo rated the worst player in the team on Sunday. 

Spanish publication Sport only gave CR7 a five out of 10 for his contributions in Los Blancos' La Liga opener, with Gareth Bale given a seven and Luka Modric scoring an eight. 

Describing the Portugal international's performance, Sport wrote: "Missed two golden opportunities, one shot at the back post and the other was a header from close range."

It was a disappointing start to the tenure of new coach Rafael Benitez, but maybe a taste of things to come, as the former Liverpool manager's focus is on function over flair. 

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However, Madrid had 27 shots in the match against the newly promoted side, per BBC Sport, with Ronaldo denied a penalty after being brought down by Sergio Alvarez.

Ronaldo's personal numbers were disappointing on Sunday, with the mercurial attacker only achieving 73 percent passing accuracy, as recorded by Squawka,com.

Barcelona's 1-0 win against Athletic Bilbao means the Galacticos already trail the champions by two points, with Madrid keen to usurp their bitter rivals in the early months of the campaign. 

Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC quoted Benitez after the contest, with the coach remaining confident despite his team's failure to win: "I knew it was going to be a game that Sporting would make difficult for us. We needed to be rapid and precise. There were a lot of shots without precision. In the first half we gave Sporting their chances. There must be more work done."

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Real have now failed to score in five of their nine games under the new manager, per Corrigan—a fact surely noted by president Florentino Perez.

It was thought Ronaldo would be used as a striker this term, but Benitez opted for Jese Rodriguez as the centre-forward, with Bale as a free-moving No. 10. The Ballon d'Or winner started the game in his familiar left-sided attacking berth and ended the game as the striker after Jese's substitution. 

The former Manchester United player looked rusty, and football blogger Samuel Jay C took a swipe at his game:

It is possible that the future incarnation of Los Blancos will not suit CR7, with Benitez insistent on a more holistic team approach than his predecessors.

Carlo Ancelotti's side were counter-attacking speed merchants, but Benitez is an all together more conservative coach. 

It is just the first game of the campaign, and at some point, Madrid will hit their expected high standard when their team of superstars read the script.

However, results under the new boss might get worse before they get better as the Galacticos struggle to score goals and make opponents pay. 

Madrid's next La Liga match is at the Bernabeu on Saturday evening, where they take on Real Betis.