Cristiano Ronaldo shares a stat with the Barcelona goalkeeper… and it proves just how badly his form has dipped this season
Portugal captain has completed just one successful dribble for Real Madrid in La Liga
REAL MADRID are currently top of La Liga on 14 points, but that has almost nothing to do with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The three time Ballon d'Or winner has suffered his worst ever start to a Spanish domestic season.
With the season six games old, Ronaldo has only netted once so far.
But even his poor start in front of goal seems impressive compared to his dribbling stats.
As a youngster at Man United, Ronaldo was one of the best players in the world on the ball and simply loved running at defenders.
Which makes it even more surprising that he has completed just one successful dribble all season.
Incredibly, that's the same number as Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
As Joe Hart found out to his cost under Pep Guardiola, everyone associated with the Catalan club likes a goalkeeper to be comfortable with the ball at his feet.
However this shocking stat definitely seems more to do with Ronaldo than the German stopper.
Boss Zinedine Zidane had clearly seen enough during Real Madrid's 2-2 draw at Las Palmas as Ronaldo was subbed off for Lucas Vazquez in the 72nd minute.
The Galacticos' failure to win in the Canary Islands meant that Barcelona closed the gap at the top of La Liga to a point with a victory at Sporting Gijon.
But ter Stegen was the subject of controversy during Barca's 5-0 win.
The goalkeeper handled the ball outside the penalty area with the scores at 0-0 but the referee failed to show a card after awarding Gijon a free kick.
The El Clasico rivals both face trips to Germany in the Champions League this week, with Real Madrid playing Dortmund tomorrow night and Barcelona taking on Borussia Monchengladbach on Wednesday.
Ronaldo has so far fared better in Europe's top club competition than the Spanish domestic league as his crucial late free kick helped Real Madrid to a 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon.
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