Can Real Madrid Survive Ronaldo?

‘Ronaldo gone’ would not be the end of the world for Real Madrid

Real Madrid drew their away match 2-2 and to be honest, Real Madrid got lucky to get even a draw out of that game. Barcelona and Atletico Madrid won their respective matches later on and hence the gap at the top is again to 6 points with Atletico Madrid and Barcelona level on points.

The match indicated to me something which I would have never even considered had Ronaldo not got injured a few weeks back. That is, has Ronaldo become at Real Madrid what Messi is at Barcelona? The only difference would be the quality which Messi brings to the table when compared to Ronaldo. Messi is obviously out of this world while Ronaldo’s game is still believable.

Since Ronaldo has come back players such as Modric, Bale, Benzema, Di Maria and Jesse (not to mention Arbeloa) just don’t look the players they were without Ronaldo on the pitch. Everybody including the players listed above themselves would say that they would love to have Ronaldo on the field rather than off it playing for another club.

But the fact remains, the last two matches Real Madrid has played with Ronaldo (even though Real Madrid won one of them comprehensibly and drew the other) all other players have looked hesitant and have looked towards Ronaldo to take the lead instead of trying something for themselves and that to me robs Real Madrid of their true potential.

I am not saying that Real Madrid should sell Ronaldo and put him on the bench. Just that, seeing Bale playing like Messi in the two matches without Ronaldo and then seeing him play like Nani(?) in the other two with Ronaldo has given me a perspective which I was not willing to consider in the past.

Now the possibility of Ronaldo playing at another club does not look like disaster for Real Madrid. There had been talks about Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid for Manchester United or City or PSG and I did not like those news in the past. But now, I am more comfortable with them.

Ronaldo is a great player no doubt but that is the difference between players like Messi, Ronaldo and Zidane, Figo. Zidane and Figo played a masterful game in which they brought out the best of their teammates. Ronaldo and Messi cannot do that because their game is to dominate the match themselves. Obviously they are perhaps better at scoring lots of goals when compared to Zidane and Figo but those two offered you something no player could offer and that was team spirit and team play.

You don’t need to beat 5 players yourself like Messi or to some extent Ronaldo to be effective when you can easily pass the ball in such a way that you could beat entire defense lines standing in front of you and that is exactly what Zidane and Figo did in their prime.

If Ronaldo wants to stay, let him stay. If he wants to go, he does not need to be stopped. Not saying Real Madrid should not bid for Messi when that happens either.