Real Madrid are struggling in attack, Juventus are playing more unitedly, and Man Utd are unable to defend their Premier League title after striker Cristiano Ronaldo left.
Sporting Lisbon
Ronaldo was a young man with a blond-spiked haircut when he debuted for his hometown club Sporting in the 2002-2003 season. He scored 5 goals in 31 appearances in his first full professional season. His promising performances at that time attracted the attention of Liverpool, Arsenal, Barca and many other top clubs.
Ronaldo dribbles past Nicky Butt in a friendly match between Sporting Lisbon and Man Utd in August 2003. Photo: AFP
In August 2003, Ronaldo shone brightly in a pre-season friendly, helping Sporting beat Man Utd 3-1, with a goal and an assist. Rio Ferdinand joked that John O’Shea needed “oxygen” when he couldn’t keep up with Ronaldo throughout the match.
Alex Ferguson, who initially wanted to “watch” Ricardo Quaresma, changed his mind and signed Ronaldo right after this friendly match. The legendary former Scottish coach even refused to leave Lisbon without signing Ronaldo. He got his wish when Man Utd recruited Ronaldo in a transfer worth about 19 million USD.
Sporting won the Portuguese league in 2001-02, but fell into the shadow of Jose Mourinho’s dominant Porto and dropped to third the following season. After Ronaldo left, Sporting finished third again and failed to qualify for the Champions League qualifying rounds. This season, they finished behind Benfica and champions Porto. They were even beaten 3-0 at home by Turkish club Genclerbirligi in the second round of the UEFA Cup – the precursor to the Europa League – in the second leg.
In addition to Ronaldo’s departure, another factor that contributed to Sporting’s decline was the loss of their main Brazilian striker, Mario Jardel, to Bolton in the same transfer window. The proceeds from these two deals were reinvested by Sporting in another Brazilian striker, Liedson – who later became a club legend with 173 goals in 313 games. In the 2004-2005 season, Sporting reached the UEFA Cup final, but lost 1-3 to CSKA Moscow at home at Jose Alvalade Stadium.
Man Utd
Ronaldo became Man Utd’s first Portuguese player when he arrived at Old Trafford in the summer of 2003. He was also the most expensive teenager in English football history at the time, and was expected by Sir Alex to replace David Beckham. Despite asking for his favourite number 28 shirt, which he wore at Sporting, the Portuguese winger was given Man Utd’s legendary number 7 by Sir Alex – a number that had previously belonged to club legends such as George Best, Eric Cantona and David Beckham himself.
With his goalscoring record and influence increasing season by season, Ronaldo was an integral part of Man Utd’s rise to dominance in the Premier League, as well as competing in the Champions League. Ronaldo’s peak came in the 2007-2008 season, when he scored 42 goals in all competitions to help Ferguson’s club win the Premier League and Champions League double. As a result, Ronaldo won his first Ballon d’Or.
In total, Ronaldo scored 118 goals in 292 matches in his first spell at Man Utd, helping the club win three Premier League titles, one FA Cup, two League Cups, two Community Shields, one Champions League and one FIFA Club World Cup.
Ronaldo wanted to join Real after Man Utd beat Chelsea in the Champions League final in Moscow in 2008 , but was blocked by Ferguson. The following season, the Portuguese striker scored 26 goals, helping Man Utd retain the Premier League title and reach the Champions League final again – where they lost 0-2 to Barca.
Ronaldo was disappointed after the Champions League final loss to Barca 0-2 – his last match for Man Utd.
Ferguson knew he could no longer stand in Ronaldo’s way. In repeated scenes, the Portuguese striker’s youthful body language became a nuisance to fans and many of his teammates at Man Utd. Ronaldo himself made no secret of his desire to move to the Bernabeu. In the end, Ferguson agreed to let Ronaldo leave for a then world record fee – nearly $100 million.
For Man Utd, the sale of Ronaldo came at a convenient time. The following season, the Glazer family – Man Utd’s American owners – recorded debts of more than $ 1.3 billion due to the impact of the global financial crisis. Financial reports in October 2010 showed that Man Utd recorded a club record loss of more than $ 100 million, but the situation was eased by the revenue from Ronaldo’s sale.
Part of the reason for Man Utd’s losses was the disappointing 2009-2010 season, when they failed to replace Ronaldo’s goals and lost the Premier League title to Chelsea. They also fell behind in Europe when they lost to Bayern in the quarter-finals. Despite selling Ronaldo in early July, Man Utd failed to find a worthy replacement, with Michael Owen being a rare high-profile free transfer.
In fact, Man Utd did not decline for too long. They won the Premier League in 2010-2011 and reached another Champions League final, but lost to Barca despite playing at Wembley. British newspaper Sportmail commented that Man Utd sold Ronaldo at the right time, because trying to keep the Portuguese striker could have brought many other consequences.
At the end of the 2021 summer transfer window, Ronaldo returned to Man Utd on a two-year contract, after leaving Juventus. But in this reunion, he only stayed for a year and a half, scoring 27 goals in 54 matches, without winning any more titles. In his first season, despite Man Utd’s poor performance, Ronaldo still impressed on a personal level, scoring 24 goals in 38 matches in all competitions. This season, he lost his starting position under new coach Ten Hag, scoring three goals in 16 matches, before parting ways due to a controversial interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
Real Madrid
During his nine seasons at the Bernabeu, Ronaldo became the club’s all-time leading scorer with 450 goals in 438 games in all competitions, a rate of more than a goal per game. The Portuguese star won 15 trophies, including four Champions Leagues, two La Ligas, two Spanish King’s Cups, two Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups and three FIFA Club World Cups.
Ronaldo’s time at Real established him as one of the best players in history, winning four more Ballons d’Or. The Portuguese forward also restored Real’s status in Europe, a status they still maintain today.
Ronaldo celebrates his fifth Champions League title with Real after the 2018 final. Photo: AFP
After helping Real win three consecutive Champions League titles, Ronaldo signed a four-year contract with Juventus in the summer of 2018. The Portuguese forward also blamed president Florentino Perez for his decision to leave Real, saying he felt he was “no longer needed by them”.
Real’s financial problems were a key factor in the decision to sell Ronaldo. Moving Ronaldo to Juventus helped the royal team free up more than $50 million in annual salary. The difference was immediately made in 2018, when Real announced a profit of $52 million compared to a previous loss of $105 million. “In short, Ronaldo has become too expensive for Real to keep on the books, and that’s before any contract increase,” commented Sportsmail .
Despite the huge investment, Real tried to fill the void left by Ronaldo with cheap contracts and paid the price with their worst season in nearly two decades. The Bernabeu team replaced Ronaldo with Dominican Republic striker Mariano Diaz from Lyon. The 29-year-old striker is still at Real, but cannot replace Ronaldo.
In the first season after Ronaldo’s departure, Mariano scored four goals and Karim Benzema scored 30. The achievements of these two players were still inferior to Ronaldo alone with 44 goals in the 2017-2018 season. As a result, the royal team finished third in La Liga, 19 points behind champions Barca. Real also had the worst number of points (68) since the 2001-2002 season and the worst goal difference (+17) since 1999-2000. Real also ended their dominance in the Champions League when they lost 3-5 to Ajax in the round of 16, in addition to being crushed by Barca in the semi-finals of the King’s Cup.
The chaos at the Bernabeu in the post-Ronaldo era was also reflected on the coaching bench , with three coaches. First, Julen Lopetegui was sacked in October after a 5-1 defeat to Barca in El Clasico. Santiago Solari tried to stabilise things, but lost his job in March to Zinedine Zidane – who had resigned just months earlier.
Over time, Real gradually returned to the peak of the treble last season, including La Liga, Champions League and Spanish Super Cup.
Juventus
Ronaldo ended his nine-year stint at Real to join Juventus for $120 million in the summer of 2018, the most expensive deal in the history of the Turin club. In three years, the Portuguese superstar scored 101 goals in 133 appearances, helping the “Old Lady” win two scudetti and one Italian Cup. However, Ronaldo could not help Juventus become champions in the Champions League. In the three seasons with Ronaldo, the Serie A representative was crushed by Ajax in the quarter-finals, lost to Lyon in the round of 16 and Porto in the same stage the following year.
After Ronaldo’s departure, Juventus continued to finish fourth in Serie A in the 2021-2022 season. The “Old Lady” also scored only 57 goals in the tournament, compared to 77 goals in Ronaldo’s final season. Juventus’ top scorer, Paulo Dybala, also only reached the 10-goal mark. They also lost 1-4 to Villarreal in the Champions League round of 16, and fell to Inter in the Italian Cup final.
However, Ronaldo’s departure has improved unity in the Juventus dressing room. Coach Max Allegri has hinted at Ronaldo’s negative impact, stressing that Juventus now play more like a team, as they no longer have to prioritise individual goals.
Before Allegri, the central defender duo Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini both admitted that Ronaldo had a negative impact on Juventus. In October 2021, Bonucci commented that the team played more collectively after Ronaldo left, while emphasizing that Juventus was somewhat reliant on the Portuguese superstar, thereby losing its identity. Sharing his opinion, Chiellini said that Juventus was unstable at the beginning of the 2021-2022 season because Ronaldo left too late. According to the Italian midfielder, if CR7 had left early, the team would have had more time to restructure the team and prepare for the new season.
Ronaldo in the 2-2 draw with Udinese, his last match for Juventus. Photo: Sky
In fact, Juventus have fared even worse this season. Juventus are currently third in Serie A with 31 points, 10 points behind leaders Napoli, having been eliminated from the Champions League group stage and relegated to the Europa League.
