Messi Comparison Shows True Extent of Ronaldo's Goalscoring Woes This Season

Real Madrid won on Sunday night, taking a much needed three points in La Liga against Las Palmas, but Cristiano Ronaldo once again failed to get his name on the scoresheet in the 3-0 victory.

Ronaldo has incredibly scored more than a goal per game since he joined Real from Manchester United over eight years ago and is finding the net freely in the Champions League this season, but doing so in league matches has proven difficult for the Portuguese superstar.

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After missing Real's first four La Liga games of the season as a result of suspension, it wasn't until his fourth appearance that he finally got off the mark against Getafe. Yet in three further league outings since, the 32-year-old hasn't added to his solitary strike.

Ronaldo did register an assist at the weekend, but his lack of goals is becoming troubling.

It certainly isn't for lack of trying. Ronaldo has taken 48 shots in his seven La Liga appearances so far this season. Only Barcelona star and great personal rival Lionel Messi has taken more - 69 efforts in 11 games in 2017/18.

In that comparison, Ronaldo has actually taken more shots per game - an average of 6.9 compared to Messi's 5.8. It is almost a whole attempt on goal extra in every appearance.

And yet, Ronaldo is lagging way behind in the goal count. Messi has scored 12 times in La Liga this season. For every goal he has taken an average of 5.7 shots, compared to Ronaldo's 48 efforts for only one paltry goal. It doesn't take a maths whizz to work out that is an average of 48 shots per goal.

Where Ronaldo is second to Messi in total shots, he is 74th in terms of actual goals.

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To date, Ronaldo's worst La Liga goal haul is the 25 he managed last season. He also managed 'just' 26 league goals in his debut season in 2009/10, but has never otherwise scored fewer than 30 times in the league in a Real shirt.

But if Ronaldo's current rate of scoring continues - 1 in 7 - he'll be on course to score just five league goals this season. That would represent his lowest tally since his first two seasons at Manchester United when he was just a teenager.

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It would be impossible to imagine that that extreme will be the case, but it is likely that this season will see Ronaldo register his lowest goal tally in Real colours.