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Cristiano Ronaldo has had an underwhelming season at Juventus by the lofty standards he had for himself. After having racked up a record 5 Ballon d'Ors with his otherworldly exploits at Manchester United (2003-2009) and Real Madrid (2009-2018), the mercurial Portuguese hitman moved to Italian champions Juventus at the start of the 2018-19 season. Ronaldo's transfer fee was the highest paid for any footballer over 30 years of age. However, his performances at for the Bianconeri haven't been up to the mark in his first season in Italy.
Ronaldo won his first Ballon d'Or in 2008 as a young 23-year-old after inspiring Sir Alex Ferguson-led Manchester United to the 2007-08 Premier League and Champions League titles as well as the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup. Lionel Messi monopolised the award for the following four seasons as Barcelona dominated European football under the tutelage of Pep Guardiola. Cristiano came roaring back to win the title back-to-back in 2013 and 2014 after guiding Real Madrid to the 2013-14 Champions League, the 2013-14 Copa del Rey, the 2014 UEFA Super Cup as well as the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup titles.
Lionel Messi again won in 2015 for guiding Barcelona to an incredible treble but CR7 came back stubbornly to claim it back-to-back in 2016 and 2017. He was the driving force behind Los Blancos securing the 2015-16 and the 2016-17 UEFA Champions League titles. Ronaldo also won plaudits for his performances captaining Portugal to their first major international title-the UEFA Euro 2016. The Messi-Ronaldo hegemony on the Ballon d'Or ended when Croatia and Real Madrid playmaker Luka Modric won the 2018 Ballon d'Or for his performances at the 2018 FIFA World Cup and as part of the 2017-18 UEFA Champions League winning Los Blancos side.
Despite winning the Serie A with Juventus, Ronaldo's performances this season do not warrant even a top 3 finish in this year's Ballon d'Or awards and we explore three reasons.
#3 Poor performance in the Champions League
Cristiano Ronaldo has won four out of his five Ballon d'Or on the back of Champions League title wins and the 5-time UCL winner couldn't replicate his electric form of previous seasons this time around for Juventus. After having been the top scorer for the last six Champions League seasons, Ronaldo scored only 6 times in 9 starts in Europe's premier club competition. This stood out in stark contrast to the 15 goals he smashed last season in Europe's most elite club competition. He lies a modest fourth in the UCL top scorer charts, behind Lionel Messi (12 goals, 3 assists), Robert Lewandowski (8 goals, 0 assists) and Dusan Tadic (6 goals, 4 assists) since Ronaldo has only 2 assists to his name.
Although he was instrumental in Juventus mounting an awe-inspiring comeback against Atletico Madrid in the Round of 16, he failed to prevent the Old Lady from going out in the Quarterfinals against a youthful, energetic and direct Ajax Amsterdam side. 19-year-old Ajax captain Matthijs de Ligt physically dominated the Portuguese veteran on both legs, as the Italian champions went down 2-3 on aggregate.
#2 Underwhelming performance in Serie A and couldn't prevent Juventus from being knocked out from Coppa Italia
Cristiano Ronaldo took his time to adapt to the rigour and defensive gameplay of the Serie A, taking till his third start for Juventus to open his account. Ronaldo was a potent threat in the Serie A thereafter, scoring 21 goals and 8 assists in 30 starts. He was key to Juventus securing their 8th successive Scudetto but Ronaldo being awarded the Serie A Player of the Season title has not gone down well with pundits as there were better individual players. Case in point, Ronaldo lies a miserable fourth in the Serie A top scorer charts, behind Sampdoria's Fabio Quagliarella (26 goals, 8 assists), Atalanta's Duvan Zapata (22 goals, 7 assists) and AC Milan's Krzysztof Piatek (22 goals).
Additionally, Ronaldo could not prevent Juventus from being eliminated in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals, as Atalanta beat them resoundingly 3-0. Atalanta's defence of Berat Djimsiti and Rafael Toloi dominated the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner all game as Juventus registered only a single shot on target.
#1 Fierce competition for Top 3 positions in the Ballon d'Or race
Lionel Messi is no longer the only competition Cristiano Ronaldo has to worry about when it comes to the top individual honour in world football. Kylian Mbappe has played like a man possessed this season, racking up 32 goals in the French Ligue 1, guiding PSG to their second successive Ligue 1 title.
Also in contention will be Liverpool's defensive spearhead and Netherlands captain Virgil van Dijk who has made a strong case for consideration after guiding Liverpool into the Champions League finals. Add to this the fact that he has captained a rejuvenated Netherlands side (who were in dire straits after failing to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup) to the UEFA Nations League semi-finals and he perhaps makes a better candidate than even Messi for the title.
Lionel Messi, however, remains the favourite for what will be a record 6th Ballon d'Or title. La Pulga rules the roost in both the UEFA Champions League Top Scorer and the European Golden Shoe standings and has already secured a record-equalling 6th Pichichi title (for top scorer of La Liga). He has been the driving force behind Barcelona wrapping up their 8th La Liga title win in the last 11 years as well as reaching the Copa del Rey finals, where they will face Valencia this Saturday. With Mbappe, van Dijk and Messi likely to make up the Ballon d'Or Top 3 for this season, Cristiano Ronaldo in all likelihood will not be present on the podium for the first time since 2010.
