Hard times for Cristiano

Despite the fact that they have star players in every position on the pitch, Real Madrid have been hugely reliant on Cristiano Ronaldo over the last few seasons.

The Portuguese superstar has scored an unbelievable number of goals for Los Blancos in recent years; he netted 48 times in La Liga alone last campaign and 31 times the season before that. He's won the European Golden Boot three times since he joined Real back in 2009. Howevr, it now looks as if his goalscoring record is finally on the wane.

While Real have struggled collectively at times this season, Ronaldo's stats suggest he's on the path to individual decline. In fairness, he's still scoring more goals than most.

Nonetheless, he's now scored in less than 50% of Real's matches for the first time since he arrived at the club.

Percentage of matches in which Cristiano Ronaldo has scored this season

48.3%

Ronaldo has played 29 matches this season but only scored in 14 of them; a goalscoring ratio of 48.3% is his worst for seven years.

If that stat stands out above all, a deeper analysis of when and where he scores his goals reveals a far more worrying trend. CR7 has netted 19 league goals this season, but the stats suggest his strikes aren't influencing key results.

In fact, if you were to chalk off all of his goals this season, Real Madrid would still have the same number of points.

League points earned by Cristiano Ronaldo's goals, 2015/16

Zero

Believe it or not, Ronaldo's goals have been literally pointless over the last few months. He's only scored in victories for Los Blancos and the majority of his goals have come in comfortable wins.

He scored five goals in a 6-0 romp against Espanyol, for instance, as well as a brace in Real's massive 10-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano. None of Real's wins have been dependant on his contribution, basically.

By stark contrast, at this stage last season the side would have been 10 points worse-off without his goals. The season before that, it would have been 14 points.

League points earned by Cristiano Ronaldo's goals at this stage in the season

2015/16

Zero

2014/15

10

2013/14

14

Reluctant as we are to say it, it seems that Cristiano has lost some of his matchwinning spark.

Can he rediscover his old form before it's too late?

Is Cristiano Ronaldo still the best player in the world?

• Yes, definitely
• BUT WHAT ABOUT LEO MESSI, BRO?!