Cristiano Ronaldo is now a fully fledged No. 9
The striker bagged 88% of his goals last season within the penalty area as opposed to a 33% goal haul in 09-10 from inside the boxChampions League Final: Real Madrid - Liverpool
The transformation of Cristiano Ronaldo to a traditional centre forward took a major step forward in the past season. The 32 year old striker is conscious that his incredible burst of speed is not what it use to be and despite the past campaign saw the striker register less on the goal count as the previous campaign, his impact for the team in the final season run-in was more than decisive with Zidane's rotation policy key in giving the Portuguese forward vital recovery time (Cristiano played in 46 of the club's 60 official matches in the 2016/17 season).
From 33% to 88%
The player's statistics compound his transformation towards a traditional No. 9 with 37 of his 42 goals last season coming inside the opposing team's penalty area with 30 of these goals (71%) coming with just one touch of the ball. In his first season with Real Madrid the striker bagged just 33% of his goals from inside the box with this figure evolving to last season's 88%.
Goal machine
Cristiano has been an authentic goal machine since his move to the Spanish capital in 2009. His goal scoring record for "Los Blancos" truly impressive since his 33 in his first season in the white shirt with 33 goals. From then onward he's bagged 53 goals in 2010/11, 60 in 11-12, 55 in 12-13, 51 in 13-14, 61 in 14-15 and 51 last season. The Portuguese player bagged 10 goals in last season's Champions League campaign and was on target twice in Cardiff as Madrid won their twelfth European Cup seeing off Juventus 4-1
Zidane's 4-4-2 formation clearly favours the Portuguese star as he moves from the left wing to a more central role and Real Madrid fans will be anxious too see the No. 7 rack up another half century of goals in the season ahead.
