Cristiano Ronaldo's UEFA Champions League dominance is in jeopardy
When it comes to the biggest club level competition, the UEFA Champions League, there is one name you can never fail to mention. That name is Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo has lifted the title a record five times, once with Manchester United and four times with the Spanish giants Real Madrid. The superstar has a total of 121 goals in the competition, with only Lionel Messi anywhere close, at 106 goals.
But since joining Juventus in this year's summer transfer window, the Portuguese forward seems to have lost some of his mojo in the competition. After the red card on his UCL debut for Juve, the forward has failed to gain momentum in the subsequent matches.
Ronaldo is way behind in the top goal scorers chart which is currently being led by Robert Lewandowski with 8 goals. He has managed to find the back of the net only once in five matches, while assisting twice.
Ronaldo has been the top scorer in the Champions League for six consecutive seasons, from 2012-13 to 2017-18. But this time around, finishing as the top scorer seems like a tall task at the moment.
Not only is Ronaldo at risk of losing out on the top scorer position, but he might also lose out on another streak of his - scoring more than 10 goals in a UCL season for seven consecutive years.
Ronaldo needs to turn things around, and he needs to turn them around quickly. The Serie A side Juventus have put in the big bucks on a 33-year-old goal-scoring machine with one major objective: winning the Champions League crown. And even Ronaldo himself knows that.
The Portuguese captain needs to find his goal-scoring form as quickly as possible because up next is the Round of 16, where considerably tougher opposition await. It will be interesting to see whether he can defy all odds and do it once again, making even the Juventus fans experience the 'Ronaldo effect'.