Relentless Ronaldo: The story behind Cristiano’s Ballon d’Or nomination

Cristiano Ronaldo is, along with Lionel Messi, on another planet. He is a goal scoring machine who has perfected his game at Real Madrid. In 216 appearances for Los Blancos, he has scored an incredible 225 goals, just 17 shy of Ferenc Puskas’ tally for the club.

In 2013, Ronaldo has improved even more. He recently scored his 22nd hat-trick for Madrid against Sevilla and is top scorer in La Liga this season. The Portuguese forward seems to go from strength to strength and never looks like he won’t score. A true phenomenon.

Major honours this year

Real Madrid didn’t win anything last season as they were beaten by Barcelona to the La Liga title as well as the Copa del Rey by Atletico Madrid. Borussia Dortmunddismantled them in the semi-finals of the Champions League, too. However, Ronaldo was sublime, finishing top scorer in the Champions League with 12 goals, two shy of Lionel Messi’s record.

He became the first player ever to score in six consecutive El Clasicos as well as becoming the fastest player to ever score 150 goals in Spain’s top division. He has scored 162 goals in 148 league games for Madrid, which is astonishing. He also moved closer to becoming Portugal’s all-time top goal scorer; he is now just four goals from Pauleta’s record.

Ronaldo ended last season with 53 goals in all competitions and has 24 this season already.

Key stats

Ronaldo is known for his shooting and he has had plenty already this season. In La Liga, he’s taken 78 shots in just 13 matches, scoring 16. He had 181 shots in 34 leagues games last season, too. However, it is his accuracy that is most impressive. He gets a lot of power behind his shots but last season, he finished with 63% accuracy which is staggering considering the quantity of shots he took.

He’s currently on 64% this season.

Does he deserve the nomination?

Quite simply, yes. Ronaldo is, alongside Messi, the best player in world football. He is an unstoppable force that no team seems to be able to contain. He will, literally, score when he wants.

Will he win the award?

Maybe. He has been majestic all year and, as usual, the award will probably come down to him and Messi. If I could vote I’d vote for Ronaldo. He has edged Messi this year, in my opinion. His individual figures are staggering and he does deserve to win it.

However, I feel as a football fan, we all underestimate Messi’s achievements because he makes it look so easy, but Ronaldo is utterly devastating and I believe he should win the award.