This is not how Cristiano Ronaldo expected the days ahead of what could be his last World Cup to play out. The Portuguese star, who left the stadium in the 89th minute during Manchester United’s 0:2 win over Tottenham, has been removed from the “Red Devils” squad ahead of the match against Chelsea tomorrow (Saturday, 19:30). And unfortunately for the striker, the numbers prove that Eric Ten Haah has a very good reason to bench him.
Man Utd with Ronaldo vs. without in the Premier League so far this season ???? pic.twitter.com/nUdxu8EOnI
— Sky Sports (@SkySports) October 20, 2022
In all of its last eight league games, Manchester United recorded only one loss, that huge 6:3 to Manchester City. And what does this series of games have in common? You guessed it, Cristiano Ronaldo has become a bench player.
In fact, since that embarrassing 4:0 to Brentford in 13.8, the Portuguese has only scored 11 once in the league, in a 0:0 against Newcastle – the only Premier League game (except the loss to City) in which United did not win. In fact, together with Ronaldo in the lineup, United gained only one league point, when without him they gained the other 18. Also, the average distance that the whole team ran dropped significantly when Ronaldo was on the pitch, from 108.5 km to 98.5 km.
In his 340 minutes on the pitch in England this season, Ronaldo scored a single goal. In his 351 minutes in the Europa League, he also scored one goal. The numbers are not at all in favor of the Portuguese phenomenon, who at the age of 37 is only one month before the World Cup which should be the last of his glorious career.
And after being removed from the squad for Chelsea, one of the greatest football players in history found himself this morning training at the same time as Manchester United’s U21 team, when he conducted personal training. Naturally, the speculations surrounding Ronaldo’s future began to resurface, who may find himself with a new team as early as this January. Therefore, the upcoming World Cup becomes even more critical for the Portuguese.