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Cristiano Ronaldo is known as the king of the UEFA Champions League because of his impeccable performances in the competition.
With five Champions League titles and the record of being the competition's all-time top scorer with 126 goals, he has cemented his status as a big-game player.
However, the 2018-19 season was a bit off to his standards. The Portuguese superstar scored 28 goals in 43 appearances and helped Juventus to win their eighth consecutive Scudetto. On the contrary, Ronaldo wasn't signed by the Bianconeri just for winning the league, but for conquering Europe.
With UEFA announcing the final shortlist for the UEFA Player of the Year, several pundits questioned Ronaldo's inclusion in the final cut alongside Virgil van Dijk and Lionel Messi.
Let us analyze his performances in the UEFA Champions League and see if he deserves to be a part of the last three:
Group Stage
Ronaldo's campaign in his favorite competition was cut short by a harsh red card in his first UCL game as a Juve player against Valencia. He was devastated and inconsolable as he knew that the expectations were high. Unfortunately, there was no VAR in the group stages to reverse the referee's decision. He had to serve a match ban but returned to face his ex-club Manchester United.
Despite pitching-in a couple of decent performances, he wasn't up to the mark. His extraordinary volley against Manchester United in Turin was his only goal in the group stage.
Masterclass against Atletico Madrid
Juventus faced Atletico Madrid in the round of 16 and were beaten comprehensively in the first leg. The Bianconeri had a mountain to climb in the second leg. Despite Turin's support, several pundits deemed it impossible to make a comeback against one of Europe's most defensively organized teams.
But this is where Ronaldo showed the world why he shouldn't be written off. He scored a hat trick and single-handedly took his side to the quarterfinals. His performance in the 2nd leg against Atleti showed that he had plenty of fire left in him.
Quarterfinals against Ajax
Ronaldo's Juventus were knocked out by a resilient Ajax side in the quarterfinals. Despite scoring a goal in each of the legs, Ronaldo couldn't inspire Juventus to turn the scoreline around after De Ligt's bullet header in the second leg.
The Italian media tore into Allegri's men, and Ronaldo received heavy criticism for not being able to take Juventus to the latter stages of the tournament.
Stats in the UCL (2018/19)
- Games played: 9
- Goals scored: 6
- Assists: 2
- Average key passes: 1.9
- Average dribbles: 2
- Pass Accuracy: 84.6%
- MOTM Awards: 2
Ranking the players who finished in positions 4-10
- 4 Alisson Becker (Liverpool & Brazil) – 57 points
- 5 Sadio Mané (Liverpool & Senegal) – 51 points
- 6 Mohamed Salah (Liverpool & Egypt) – 49 points
- 7 Eden Hazard (Chelsea/Real Madrid & Belgium) – 38 points
- 8= Matthijs de Ligt (Ajax/Juventus & Netherlands) – 27 points
- 8= Frenkie de Jong (Ajax/Barcelona & Netherlands) – 27 points
- 10 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City & England) – 12 points
Conclusion
Ronaldo's stats are on par with that of Liverpool's duo Mohamed Salah (5 goals and 2 assists) and Sadio Mane(4 goals and 1 assist). From a neutral perspective, many believe that there are far more deserving candidates than Ronaldo.
Furthermore, Ronaldo helped Portugal win the UEFA Nations League. He scored a hat trick in the semifinals against Switzerland and was instrumental in Portugal edging past the Netherlands in the finals. This can be viewed as a justification for him being a part of the final shortlist.
However, one should know that the shortlist of three players was selected by a jury comprising of:
- 80 coaches of the clubs that participated in the group stages of the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League (32) and UEFA Europa League (48).
- 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, one from each of UEFA's member associations.
Hence, by considering the factors mentioned above and the fact that the decision was made based on votes, we can conclude that Ronaldo deserves a spot at the podium.
He may not have been at his very best, but has managed to stay on par with his competitors for the award. However, it is improbable that he will win the honour, with Van Dijk and Messi outperforming everyone.
Ronaldo will most likely finish third and hence may not attend the gala, just like last year. He will look to be at his very best for this season under Maurizio Sarri and take his team to the final. He is a man who is hungry for success and will hope to make his presence in the top three of next year's awards unquestionable.
