Cristiano Ronaldo News: Former Real Madrid manager believes that the Portuguese star is missed at the Santiago Bernabeu

What's the story?

Former Real Madrid boss Jorge Valdano offers his thoughts on the situation at Real Madrid without their former talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo.

In case you didn't know..

Cristiano Ronaldo joined Real Madrid in 2009 from Manchester United in a then world record deal. In a long and successful career at Santiago Bernabeu, the forward guided the Spanish giants to four UEFA Champions League and two LaLiga titles.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was the most influential player at Real Madrid. The forward scored 450 goals and provided 131 assists in 438 games for Real Madrid in all competitions, which is quite remarkable.

Now that the 34-year-old has joined Juventus, Real Madrid are struggling extensively in the finishing department. Meanwhile, Juventus are having the best league season in their history.

Cristiano Ronaldo also leads the Serie A goalscoring charts with 19 goals and has 8 assists to his name.

The heart of the matter

Valdano spoke to Spanish radio Onda Cero(via AS) after Real Madrid's 3-0 defeat at the hands of Barcelona in the second leg of Copa del Rey semifinals:

"When they had a guy in their team who had such a knack for putting the ball away, Madrid were characterised by how clinical they were in front of goal,"

Argentine ex-footballer further expanded saying:

But he's no longer there. Barça have a superstar in their ranks and Madrid don't anymore; Cristiano leaving has had a crucial effect."

What's next?

Real Madrid will look to avenge the defeat when they meet Barcelona in LaLiga this weekend. Juventus will face Napoli and Udinese in their next Serie A games before facing Atletico Madrid in the second leg of round of 16 in the UEFA Champion League.