With the mood around the Bernabeu having nosedived following two defeats in four days across two competitions, a debate has opened up among Real Madrid fans and pundits over whether a decline in output from superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is to blame.

Just last week Madrid were buoyant -- setting a new Spanish club record of 40 games unbeaten in all competitions, and sitting clear at the top of the La Liga standings well ahead of rivals Sevilla, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Meanwhile, Ronaldo was basking in adulation having lifted both The Best FIFA Men's Player award and a fourth career Ballon d'Or prize, amid general consensus from global critics that he was the outstanding player during a 2016 in which he won the Champions League with his club and Euro 2016 with his country.

However Madrid's 2-1 La Liga loss at Sevilla last Sunday, and then Wednesday's 2-1 Copa del Rey quarterfinal first leg defeat at home to Celta Vigo, have led to a huge swing in sentiment, particularly among the local media in the Spanish capital.

On Friday morning, AS featured an unhappy looking Ronaldo on the cover, with the headline reading "Cristiano, uphill January," and the text referencing an article which said his January 2017 return of just two goals in three games was statistically the lowest since his first season at the Bernabeu back in 2009-10.

Across his 22 Madrid games in all competitions this season, Ronaldo has scored 18 goals and managed six assists, with coach Zinedine Zidane having moved him to a more central striking role and rested his star player more than in previous years.

Nevertheless, AS editor Alfredo Relano said in his Friday column that the days of Madrid being able to rely on the Portugal captain to score in pretty much every game were now over.

"I think the worst thing that is happening at Madrid is that Cristiano is now a shadow of himself," Relano wrote. "For years Madrid banked on him, his fifty goals per season. It was like stepping onto the field already a goal up. That's a thing of the past, Cristiano is not scoring, nor even intimidating. I don't think this is forever though. He just needs to adapt to a new task, but it's taking time."

Over at Marca, well connected veteran of the Bernabeu press room Jose Felix Diaz recalled that when Ronaldo was rested for the recent Copa del Rey ties against Sevilla, the team looked a more hardworking collective unit, and added that the 31-year-old's contribution was waning in the biggest games.

"Without CR7 on the pitch, Real Madrid left behind Sevilla in the Copa, playing more as a unit, with 11 players pressing and running from the first minute," Diaz argued. "With the Ballon d'Or out there, the team gains more firepower, but when those blows do not knock-out the opponent, his contribution is reduced to simply his presence on the pitch. That presence counts for a lot at times, but in tough games it has been reduced in a drastic manner. Ronaldo is 'The Best' and must react quickly. His team needs him."

The issue was also dominating Spain's very popular late-night sports shows on Thursday. The weekly debate on "El Larguero" asked whether "Cristiano is just going through a bad moment or has he gone into decline?"

Over on "El Transistor" the topic of conversation was "Is it time to sell Cristiano?" -- bringing up the claims from his agent Jorge Mendes of a €200 million-plus offer from China, even though he signed a new five year contract just last November.

In Catalonia, Barcelona-leaning pundits also claim to have noticed an important change in Ronaldo's contribution. With tongue pressed in cheek, Mundo Deportivo asked: "Where is the Best gone?"

"The poor performance of Cristiano Ronaldo in recent games has set the alarm bells ringing at Real Madrid," wrote Oscar Zarate. "The Portuguese, who has not stopped boasting about his shiny trophies from 2016 [Ballon d'Or and The Best], is unrecognisable and supplying arguments to those who question his recent prizes."

Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC

by Dermot Corrigan

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