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Real Madrid did not play this week in the Champions League, giving the Madridistas plenty of time to explore Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. But some fans decided to spend Tuesday night watching former Madrid superstar Cristiano Ronaldo.
The legendary No. 7 is the best player in the competition’s history, but he looked like anything but a legend against Porto in the second leg. Juve won 3-2, but after conceding two goals at home, they were eliminated by away goals in the round of 16 for the second year in a row. And it was Ronaldo, who offered very little in the attack, the culprit on the shaking wall for Juve’s second goal conceded.
Ronaldo’s miserable departure has led many to speculate that Juventus will go ahead with their rebuilding, but will do so without their expensive superstar. And that could leave an opportunity for Real Madrid to meet again with a player that many believe should never have left the Santiago Bernabéu in 2018.
However, I think that the madridistas should leave the memory in the past. Nostalgia is a dangerous emotion that makes us forget certain realities and clouds our judgment about the future. Ronaldo and Real Madrid accomplished great things together, but it’s time for Real to build a new identity around a new superstar.
Cristiano Ronaldo is still great, but Real Madrid must focus on the future with Kylian Mbappé or Erling Haaland
Ronaldo is still an effective scorer. After all, he has 20 goals in Serie A this season and will probably end with his best scoring season in the league. But he’s no longer as good at beating players one-on-one, his opportunity creation is worse than it was before, and he may only have a few years of top-level football left.
Mbappé and Haaland will be world class for the next decade. They are already surpassing Ronaldo, and while I would admit that CR7 could be more productive in a better team, we cannot forget that Juve defeated Lazio 3-1 in the previous match without the Portuguese superstar in the starting eleven.
There have been so many exaggerated takes on Ronaldo’s game and rumors of his decline have been shown to be false. But it seems that some Madridistas are going in the opposite direction, which is not good either. At 36, Ronaldo is still remarkably effective, but admittedly, he is not the same untouchable player he once was. He would not turn back the clock for Real, nor is he better than Mbappé or Haaland in what he could contribute to this team.
Could he really still be as effective for Real as a left winger in their 4-3-3? Would there be room for him in that position? I have my doubts, and if the Real is going to spend 30 million euros of salary in a player, it should do it in Mbappé. Or save your money and hunt down Haaland.
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I understand why the Madridistas want a reunion with Ronaldo. But Real Madrid should focus on building another elite team over the next decade, rather than making the same move Juventus did and putting its resources into a player who would be a better fit in a “win now” project like PSG. Whites must remember a tough concept. The sequels are rarely better than the originals.
