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#2 Ronaldo was more consistent in Europe
Many have tried to defend Modric’s win of the UEFA Best Player award by saying he was as important as Ronaldo in Real Madrid’s Champions League title triumph. Such a notion is not far-fetched, but the fact is that in every team, one player will definitely be more influential than the other.
In the previous seasons where Ronaldo won the award, he still had influential teammates, so what has changed now? Consistency-wise, the Portuguese also had it over the Croatia captain. For instance, whiles Ronaldo scored in 11 consecutive games and against every team in the Champions League till the semi-final stage, Modric could not garner such consistency in his performances in Europe.
In fact, in the toughest and most important game for Madrid en route to the final, Modric was benched against Paris Saint-Germain. It may have been a tactical switch (and that does not decimate Modric’s overall impact in the competition), but it goes a long way to indicate that the team could still have played on without him.
Now take away Ronaldo’s goals, including that nerveless last-minute winner against Juventus, and it would be clear where Real Madrid could have finished in the Champions League. The Portuguese was definitely Europe’s most consistent player.
