Cristiano Ronaldo has taken on a new, more unselfish role in his Juventus career so far, statistics reveal.
The Portuguese superstar joined the Bianconeri in the summer for €100m, smashing the Serie A transfer record and becoming the highest paid player in the division.
When CR7 arrived in Italy, the most frequently asked questions related to how many goals he would score.
Cristiano Ronaldo has taken on a new, more unselfish role in his Juventus career so far, statistics reveal.
The Portuguese superstar joined the Bianconeri in the summer for €100m, smashing the Serie A transfer record and becoming the highest paid player in the division.
When CR7 arrived in Italy, the most frequently asked questions related to how many goals he would score.
There was good reason, as during his time at Real Madrid he incredibly scored more goals than he played games, finding the net 450 times in 438 competitive games.
In his 292 La Liga appearances, Ronaldo scored 311 goals but provided only 95 assists as he evolved from a winger into a pure striker.
Since arriving in Turin though, the 33-year-old has adapted to a new role, often playing out on the left while Mario Mandzukic provides a focal point in the middle.
Max Allegri’s system appears to have made him a far more unselfish player, at least in the early stages of his career in Italy.
Ronaldo currently has three goals in seven Serie A games, but he has provided four assists in that time.
While, for example, one of his assists against Napoli came via a rebound from his shot, the underlying numbers do point to a change of style and role.
In league matches so far, CR7 has averaged 2.1 key passes per game, a figure he achieved only once in La Liga after the 2010-11 season.
Similarly his 1.3 dribbles per game is his highest league average since 2015-16, and he’s been fouled more often than at any time since 2013-14.
In his seven Serie A games so far, Ronaldo has made an average of 37.3 passes per game. In his final three La Liga seasons that figure never cracked 30, with an average of just 27 passes per game last season.
The Portuguese hasn’t been hitting those kinds of passing numbers since the 2011-12 season, and an average pass completion of 88.1 per cent is higher than at any time in Madrid.