3 reasons why Cristiano Ronaldo will not cross the 800-goal mark

#1 His age has seen game-management creep into his style

Ronaldo sits out games these days

While Cristiano Ronaldo might look as fit as a fiddle thanks to an extraordinary attention to detail and strict diet and workout regime, the bottom line is that he is 34 years old. There is only so much that exercising and dieting can do to limit the impact of nature.

Ronaldo has played top-level football for over 16 years now. It is undeniable that all those years of hard work have taken a toll on his body, as he is no longer the explosive force of nature he once was.

The first sign of that was the moment when he had to adjust his game to suit this new reality. He adapted to become more of a center-forward than the pacy winger we knew in yesteryear.

Kudos to him for slotting into the new role seamlessly. But despite the role change, Ronaldo has had to sit out an increasing number of games in recent times.

His ultra-competitiveness means that he will still strive to play as many marquee fixtures as possible. But common sense dictates that he sit out a lot of the less significant fixtures, thereby robbing him of opportunities to rack in goals against lesser teams.

After the World Cup last year, Ronaldo ruled himself out of international selection for the rest of the year. Moreover, he has not played 35 league games since the 2015-16 season.

With Ronaldo facing an ever-decreasing number of opponents every year, it stands to reason that his goal-return would take a nosedive, therefore making it harder for him to attain the 800-goal mark.