No Cristiano, no glory of the Champions League? Real Madrid's dependence on the Ronaldo knockout revealed

Few would disagree that Julen Lopetegui failed to make the most of his resources at Real Madrid.

Admittedly, the capitulation of Camp Nou that cost him his work last October has been embarrbading, and in an even more unfavorable light during the impressive Copa del Rey draw last week in Barcelona under the orders of his successor, Santiago Solari, who also put Blancos ninth in the league in second place .

Nevertheless, Lopetegui's father, Jose Antonio, has raised a valid argument in accusing Real of having blamed Real's decision to sell Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus last summer for his son's hardship at the Santiago Bernabeu .

"Cristiano Ronaldo was good," he said sarcastically. "Was he arrogant? We all have flaws, but it turns out he's scored 50 goals per season!

"He's missing, he's missing a leading striker, and they have not bought one, not one.

"There was speak from Neymar and others, but no one has come. They stole 50 goals from my son! "

The language may have been emotional, but the numbers were actually based.

Ronaldo scored on average 50 goals per season during his nine-year stint in the Spanish capital, totaling 450 goals, including 105 in the Champions League (in just 101 matches!).

The prolific Portuguese still lacks a lot.

Admittedly, Vinicius Junior has been a wonderfully exciting addition to the team and a key element of the recent resurgence of Real, but Karim Benzema is the only player in Madrid to have beaten double figures this season in La Liga. goals in his name.

Of course, during his last seasons in the Spanish capital, Ronaldo often reserved his best form for the Champions League and it is in Europe that Madrid are now likely to really feel the exit of the attacker.

The defending champions finished top of a desperately weak group, but were beaten at home and away by CSKA Moscow, while seven of their 12 goals were defeated by Viktoria Plzen.

While Real no doubt begins to look like his old self – Saturday's win at Atletico was a fifth consecutive win in La Liga – the real test of their transformation has now arrived, with the start of this week of the last 16 games of the Champions League.

It was in the knockout stages of the most prestigious tournament in the game that Ronaldo really emphasized his value for the Real.

He was the decisive factor in the victory of the Blancos on four of the last five leagues of the champions.

Ronaldo recorded a record 60 goals in the round of 16. Lionel Messi is far behind with 20 goals less, including 50 in Madrid.

When the Blancos triumphed in 2014, he scored eight goals in the round of 16, including one in the final, against Atletico.

Two years later, Real scored five goals in the round of 16, including a superb hat-trick in the Bernabeu first leg, which earned him an impressive 3-2 overall victory over Wolfsburg in the quarter-finals.

In 2017, Ronaldo scored 10 goals in seven games, between the last 16 and the final.

After being sidelined by Napoli in the last 16 games, he scored five of Real's six goals in the quarter-final match with Bayern Munich. He scored twice in Bavaria before embarking on a hat-trick at Bernabeu.

Ronaldo then effectively secured his team's place in the final with a fresh hat-trick in his upcoming European outing, this time in the round-robin with Atletico in the semifinals.

Juve were at the sword in Cardiff, with Ronaldo twice in the goal 4-1 victory that saw Real become the first team to retain the title of the Champions League.

He did not manage to find the net in the final or semi-finals last season, but he still looted six goals. His indirect free kick in Turin is one of the imperishable memories of the historic triumph of Real, which has unfolded three times in a row.

In total, Real has scored 112 goals in the round of 16 since Ronaldo left Manchester United in 2009. He is responsible for almost half of this shot (44.8%).

It would therefore be ridiculous to say that Real's chances of winning a fourth successive triumph have not been seriously reduced by his departure.

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We have already seen the opposite effect of "Ronaldo effect" to Bernabeu in La Liga. The Real is still six points behind the Barcelona leader, despite their good form.

As recently stated Fabio Capello, "they pay the price to think that they could get results without Cristiano Ronaldo".

A revitalized Real could certainly have trouble fighting against Ajax in the last 16 games, but the sale of Ronaldo could well be expensive for the European crown of Blancos.