As much as some people won’t agree, I believe Ronaldo enjoyed playing with players like Nani, Quaresma, and others more than he does with this current set of players. It’s not necessarily because they were better, but because they understood how quickly football should be played.
Bruno, Vitinha, and João Neves are arguably among the best players in their positions on paper, yet they failed to create anything meaningful in 90 minutes. Somehow, Ronaldo ends up being blamed, just moving the ball around and Romancing it.
If it were Haaland, the narrative would be that he lacked service. But when it’s Ronaldo, he’s suddenly the problem. Meanwhile, the guy was making the runs, but the ball simply wasn’t getting to him.
🚨🇵🇹 𝗗𝗜𝗗 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪: Cristiano Ronaldo hasn't received an assist from Bruno Fernandes since 13 October 2023 against Slovakia. 😳
As for Vitinha, his only career assist to Ronaldo came on 15 November 2024 against Poland.