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Among all the footballers of the modern generation, nobody comes close to Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to scoring records. The Portuguese superstar may have started his career on the wings, but his most significant accolades have all come forward. Cristiano Ronaldo is not just a prolific goalscorer but a consistent one.
But even Cristiano Ronaldo has dry patches
Amazingly, a serial scorer like Cristiano can undergo streaks of matches without a goal. However, he has gone without scoring for over 400 minutes on at least five occasions since 2010, with the most recent one being his longest. While Cristiano Ronaldo has won many plaudits over the years, he won't remember these five instances fondly.
#5 448 minutes - 2011
Cristiano Ronaldo had already become a star by 2010 when Real Madrid broke all records to bring him on board. He had already won several trophies at Manchester United, and there was a strong need for trophies at Real Madrid during that time. Florentino Perez had decided to build a modern generation of Galacticos, and Cristiano was the leader of that moment.
Cristiano didn't take much time to settle in and had quickly adapted to the needs of La Liga. But strangely enough, there were not one but two dry patches where Cristiano went without a goal. The first one lasted 448 minutes across four games.
Incidentally, Cristiano had a superb 2011 as he was in sublime form throughout the year. Only an exceptional Lionel Messi was able to outdo him at the 2011 Ballon D'Or ceremony, but 2011 was the end of the start of two fruitful seasons in Cristiano's career.
#4 458 minutes - 2011
Cristiano's second dry spell in 2011 is a remembrance of the fact that he is also human. As the 5th entry on this list, this dry spell also crossed four games. Ronaldo had already shifted to a more central position by then, and he had an outstanding goal-scoring record.
At the club level, Cristiano had a fruitful 2011 as he won the Copa Del Rey at the end of the 2010-11 season. 2011 was also the start of a season where Real could end Barcelona's dominance in La Liga, and the Portuguese played a pivotal part.
Cristiano scored 60 goals across 55 appearances in the 2011-12 season, which was a stunning return. But, quite naturally, people hardly remember his mini dry spells in the context of the brilliant things he achieved.
#3 464 minutes - 2020
Cristiano Ronaldo's spell at Juventus will go down as a mixed one. It can't be said that he didn't achieve anything at Turin. But Juventus had one reason to bring him over to Italy - to win the Champions League, which didn't happen.
Cristiano scored many goals and won different trophies in Italy just like he had done in England and Spain. He was a remarkably consistent scorer in Serie A and was also the primary outlet for many goals for Juventus. Even the great footballer had a mini dry spell of 464 minutes in 2020, which lasted across 4 games.
At club level, Cristiano Ronaldo had a good 2020 as Juventus added another Serie A and Coppa Italia to their cabinet.
#2 547 minutes - 2010
2010 was when Cristiano Ronaldo ended his maiden season with Los Blancos. He was a superstar signing, and his first impressions justified his reputation and transfer price. Cristiano Ronaldo had already become a prolific goal scorer at Manchester United and took it to the next step at Real.
But even a great scorer like him as a starting point can sometimes be difficult. Irrespective of his greatness, every footballer goes through a lean patch, and his dry spell in 2010 lasted across 5 games.
When one sees his performances in the 2010-11 season, it's quite hard to imagine that he didn't score across 5 games straight. Cristiano Ronaldo had managed to bag 53 goals and 29 across 54 games which were stunning numbers.
#1 538 minutes - 2022
While the ongoing lean spell of Cristiano Ronaldo is not the longest one in terms of time, it's the longest in terms of games involved. At the time of writing, Cristiano had gone 6 matches without sending the ball into the back of the net. It was an unexpected turn of events, given that Manchester United fans would have hoped for a better scoring record.
United are in a tough spot where they consistently give up points. They have been defensively poor at times, but recently, their attacking intent has also been lacking. Cristiano's dry spell is certainly not helping the case either, despite the brilliant start he made to his second stint at Manchester United.
United now face a difficult proposition to qualify for Europe and have tough fixtures in the Champions League. So now will be a great time for the Portuguese to break the dry run with a goal.
