It’s hard to believe but there was once a time when many questioned the managerial proficiency of Sir Alex Ferguson, the legendary Manchester United manager, but this was the case in the early 2000’s when Manchester United were unable to again reach the heights of their treble winning 1999 season. Enter Cristiano Ronaldo. In his six years at Manchester United, Ronaldo won eight major honors including three Premier League titles and one Champions League (UCL). In the ten years since his departure from the club, Manchester United has only won two Premier League titles, never going past the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Prior to Ronaldo joining Real Madrid, Madrid was enduring a relatively disappointing spell under the guidance of president Ramon Calderon, winning one major trophy in the last 6 years. The arrival of Ronaldo was a result of reinstating Florentino Perez as president who adopted the Galactico policy of buying the best players in the world and Ronaldo was just that. Perez was rewarded as Real Madrid, during his tenure, went on to win 15 major honors and an unprecedented 4 Champions Leagues. Following the departure of Ronaldo, Real Madrid underperformed substantially as the kings of the Champions League were eliminated from the Champions League in all cup competitions and dropped to fifth place during the midseason. The incredible success while Ronaldo is at a club, followed by a downturn in fortunes of established, elite teams after his departure is interesting and thus begs the question, what exactly is the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo on a soccer team?

From the data we can see that when Ronaldo is playing, the style of Madrid’s offense is designed around Ronaldo, allowing him to neglect defensive obligations and get him the ball in space. The playing style revolves around their primary goal scorer and shot taker, a system that would succeed with only very few players in the world.

However, after leaving Real Madrid, despite Benzema operating as a central striker, the offensive statistics highlight how attacking duties are more evenly distributed and are in fact higher for many Madrid players. This suggests that when Ronaldo is playing, many players may in fact sacrifice their individual game to support Ronaldo. The devastating impact of Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid is also evident in their offensive statistics as in the one season after Ronaldo left Madrid, Madrid’s goals per match dropped by 0.66 while the shots per game also dropped by 4.03.

Prior to Ronaldo joining Juventus, we can see the same even attacking contribution among attackers as at Madrid. After the move to Juventus, Ronaldo leads both in shooting and goal-scoring categories as he is now the focal point of the attack while players such as Dybala, who had been the primary goal-scorer, now finds himself in more of a supporting role.

Another factor that Ronaldo offers is his attacking versatility and the ability to adapt to different attacking systems. Take the case of Juventus versus Atletico Madrid in the Champions League Round of 16.

In the first leg, where Juventus lost 2-0, Massimino Allegri, Juventes manager, played a 4-3-3 with Ronaldo as the primary striker, which was Ronaldo was accustomed to during his time at Madrid. From the graphic below we can see positions from which key passes were made in both legs. Key passes are defined as passes which lead to a goal-scoring opportunity. As we can see that in the first leg (on the left and in blue) Juventus attempted to penetrate the defenses by passing the ball in positions where the ball must be played in behind the defense in various positions across the field. This was ultimately unsuccessful due to the vision and defensive prowess of Diego Godin and Jose Gimenez, arguably two of the best center backs in world soccer. In the second leg however, Allegri switched to a 3-4-1-2 in attempt to exploit Atletico Madrid’s weakness of defending crosses. This can be seen in the image on the right, where the key passes were primarily crosses from the wings allowing Ronaldo to score two headed goals and a penalty which allowed Juventus’ historic comeback sealing his place in history.

Another undeniable impact that Cristiano Ronaldo has is his ability to score crucial goals. A telling statistic is that in the quarter finals, semifinals and finals of the Champions League, Ronaldo has scored 41 goals. The next highest? Lionel Messi with 16. In the most important situations, Ronaldo is able to step up and make the difference. The ability to make the difference between losing and drawing and drawing and winning is what defines the best players in the world. In total last season, Ronaldo scored goals in 17 games for Madrid that made the difference between losing and drawing and drawing and winning. These crucial goals have been essential to Real Madrid’s success and are now suffering from his lack of important goals. This season so far, Ronaldo has done so in 8 different games with many more games to come.

Besides the numbers that quantitatively cement his legacy in soccer folklore, Ronaldo can significantly impact all of his teammates around him. After 34 years of invaluable experience, Ronaldo and his experience will be invaluable to creating a winning mentality within the squad as well as nurturing young talent, such as Moise Kean, at Juventus. Ronaldo’s uncomparable work rate drives and motivates everyone around him, daring them to work harder. Carlos Tevez tells the story of how when first arriving in Manchester, he showed up early in order to impress Sir Alex Ferguson. Yet, Ronaldo was already at Carrington - the United training complex. The next day, Tevez went an hour early but Ronaldo was already there. Tevez had decided to show up 3 hours early to training, only to find that Ronaldo had arrived earlier. Ronaldo has a supreme confidence in his ability, which is incredibly uplifting and inspiring for his teammates. Prior to Juventus’ comeback versus Atletico Madrid, Ronaldo had told his friends and family that he would score a hattrick to overturn the 2-0 deficit after the first leg and did just that. A man with this confidence, hard work and dedication is not only an asset to the team as a player but as a leader who uplifts and inspires the best in people, which is evident in how Juventus has comeback from a losing position to win in 6 games this season.

Despite dominating domestic competition, Juventus last won the Champions League in 1996, losing 2 out of 9 finals and the signing of Ronaldo is no doubt a statement of their intent to win the highest honor of European competition. Ronaldo’s record definitely suggests that Juventus has finally found the player to take them all the way, but they must be cautious. The profound reliance that teams have on Ronaldo when he plays can both be a blessing and a curse as when Ronaldo leaves a team they tend to struggle to replace his sheer level of output, thus Juventus must a have a plan in place to adequately replace Ronaldo after he is gone, or completely change their style of play - something Madrid and Manchester United have not yet been able to do. Juventus have also always been a defensive-minded team, a quality that is ingrained in Italian football, thus Ronaldo’s lack of a defensive work ethic may potentially have a negative impact on the team, however, Juventus clearly believe the payoff is worth it and given Ronaldo’s current goal-scoring form, it’s hard to disagree.