Why Restoring Morata for Benzema Can Let Cristiano Ronaldo Rediscover His Groove

Real Madrid are back to winning ways after victories over Real Betis and Legia Warsaw in the league and Champions League, respectively, but they face a big test in La Liga at the weekend when they host high-flying Athletic Bilbao at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Zinedine Zidane's men are still joint top of La Liga despite their previous run of draws, and there will be plenty of reason to think that will still be the case after the weekend. However, they must be on-point offensively, especially considering their unreliable defence, to take three points off their Basque opponents, who have started 2016/17 impressively.

To that end, Zidane must do everything possible to help star forward Cristiano Ronaldo get back to top form as quickly as possible, and in the short term, the next alteration to the side to make that happen should be to swap his starting centre-forward: Karim Benzema out, Alvaro Morata in.

Cristiano's troubles

Let's be clear: Ronaldo hasn't been in poor form, he just hasn't been at his best. Perhaps it was inevitable that a run such as this would would eventually happen, given discussions last year and over the summer of his advancing age, the injury he suffered in Euro 2016 and the incredible expectation on him as a result of his career so far. Yet it's still a surprise whenever a top player dips below their usual level.

For Ronaldo, though, the main issue he is facing is more to do with timing than fitness or ability.

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His movement is good along the front line, in terms of opening spaces and allowing balls to be played into his feet, and he's also dropping deeper to take possession, looking to get involved and essentially trying to work his way out of the funk. But with that increasing wish to be involved, the prospective runs have gradually ebbed away: that classic Ronaldo dart behind the defence, hoping for a low cross or lofted pass before beating the goalkeeper one-on-one.

The natural inclination to attack has been somewhat held back, no doubt due in part to having missed a hatful of chances.

Against Villarreal, Eibar and Betis each, Ronaldo passed up what would usually be considered a guaranteed goal, missing the target from close range on first-time finishes. It's no less than other strikers might suffer at times, but it's unexpected from Ronaldo, who hits 40 a season with ease.

That said, his strike against Betis—just his second in La Liga this term—showcased the determination and frustration of the No. 7, barging his way through and rattling in a goal that was irrelevant in terms of the scoreline, but certainly not for his own state of mind.

Still lacking something of his most explosive acceleration, the strike against Betis nonetheless displayed that he still has the movement and power to beat defenders.

Benzema

A core part of the BBC attack, Karim Benzema's ails are rather different. He's suffering from a lack of fitness and sharpness, pure and simple, and it's hampering his overall game.

The Frenchman had looked low on confidence for a period, being substituted at half-time against Eibar in particular, but a goal—however scruffy and not entirely down to his own good finishing—should help in that regard. But his movement, his pace, his intensity...none of it has been seen, certainly not with anything like the regularity to justify his place in the starting XI.

Habitually, linking play inside the penalty box has been a massive strength of Benzema's; aside from being capable of scoring himself at a rate of a goal every 90 minutes or so, he also teed up a large volume of chances for his team-mates.

In La Liga in '15/16, Benzema notched seven assists and averaged 1.6 key passes per match (per WhoScored.com), but this term, he is yet to claim a single assist, and his key pass rate is down to 0.7 per game.

It's a huge indication of his ineffectiveness, which is hampering not only the team overall, but also Ronaldo's improvement.

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Shorn of a regular source of shooting chances and the movement of Benzema creating the space infield for Ronaldo to exploit, the Portuguese is now having to create more opportunities himself—naturally more difficult to gain a quality shooting chance from—and is finding central spaces more crowded.

The team cannot really accommodate two out-of-sorts players in the same area of the pitch, and as important as Benzema has been, he's not as important as Ronaldo.

Morata

That's where Morata comes in. The Spaniard started the season well, dropped off and has looked better again in recent performances—which is pretty much as expected given he's reasonably young, is in his first season back and has been moved out of the starting XI.

However, Morata's big strengths are those that aid the team rather than have him be the focal point of the attack, and that's what Ronaldo needs right now: a selfless player who will occupy defences, work hard and provide chances for the rest of the team, as well as scoring a few himself.

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Zidane has reportedly told his attacking line that he needs more from them defensively, per Marca.

If true, bringing Morata back into the side is a no-brainer, especially against a team as aggressive as Athletic usually are. Quite aside from his natural tendency to show great endeavour and team work, he's simply off the scale compared to positional rival Benzema this season, as shown in the below table—data is per WhoScored.com and on a per 90 minutes basis in La Liga.

Player	Tackles	Interceptions	Clearances
Morata	1.3	0.4	0.6
Benzema	0.0	0.0	0.6

In terms of aiding Ronaldo, Morata's positional play is also vital. As shown when he came on as sub against Legia most recently, but also earlier in the season, Morata is very quick to drift out to the left channel when the ball is lost and Ronaldo has been operating centrally.

This has been seen on set-piece situations, too, with Morata defending the flank and Ronaldo left centrally to ease his workload, leaving him in place as an outlet for the counter and attempt to get him in the goals more often.

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Naturally, bringing Morata back into the fold will only up his own confidence and sense of belonging at Madrid. It's likely the midfield will be altered once more from midweek—only one of James Rodriguez, Isco and Marco Asensio can realistically be fit in against Athletic, as Mateo Kovacic is a must-start—and having the Spanish striker in for a big game, deliberately chosen to start rather than being the only fit option in his role, would be a huge boost.

He still has a lot to prove, and indeed to improve, but his biggest job just now could be helping the team's star player rediscover his scoring touch in the positions that made him one of the world's finest.