Cristiano Ronaldo News: Stats reveal that Ronaldo is one of the worst free-kick takers in Europe
What's the story?
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored over 50 free-kicks in his glittering career, but evidently, the Portuguese talisman's set-piece ability is not what it once was.
The Juventus star is yet to score a single free-kick since moving to Italy and shocking statistics reveal that Ronaldo is, in fact, one of the worst free-kick takers in Europe.
In case you didn't know...
The 34-year-old has racked up 26 goals and 12 assists in all competitions with Juventus and remains one of the top goalscorers and assist providers in the Serie A. Juventus have a 17 point lead at the top of the table in the league but were knocked out from the Coppa Italia and from the Champions League in the quarterfinal stages.
Five out of six Ronaldo goals came in the knockout stages of the Champions League this season but that was not enough to see the Old Lady through to the semi-finals.
Juventus boss Allegri was quick to heap praise on Ronaldo despite their Champions League exit.
"Ronaldo has had an incredible season," he said a few days ago. "The Champions League is over - the result is that we were knocked out. Ronaldo plus Juventus does not guarantee the Champions League. There are so many components in football."
"He is the future of Juventus. He has done well this year and will do great things next year. He's disappointed but he's calm about it, like everyone else."
The heart of the matter
Give Me Sport revealed a statistic which shows how poor Ronaldo has been this season. The Juventus star has not scored once in the 16 free-kicks he has taken so far in the current campaign - which makes it the second longest run of free-kicks without scoring one in Europe's top four leagues.
Ronaldo is only behind Camillo Ciano who has failed to convert his last 18 free-kicks attempts. Ronaldo's last free-kick came against Spain in the 2018 World Cup and his last free-kick for a club was way back in 2017 in the Club World Cup final with Real Madrid.
On the other hand, Lionel Messi remains on the opposite end of the list, having scored six direct free-kicks already in this campaign.
What's next?
Ronaldo's Juventus will face Fiorentina next in the Serie A.