Cristiano Ronaldo has not been himself this year.
His form has dipped along with that of his team, a New Year hangover after being crowned world champions with Real Madrid and the Ballon d’Or winner within a few weeks.
Critics say he is sated with success, with nothing more to win or prove.
Those who know him say that he is more driven than any player they have worked with.
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There are other reasons also. Ronaldo has separated from his long-term partner, for one, and his personal life is reportedly not going as well as it could.
He can shake off the poor form in Wednesday night’s Uefa Champions League last-16, first-leg tie against German club Schalke.
Anonymous in the 4-0 derby defeat to neighbours Atletico Madrid 11 days ago, Ronaldo was then criticised for holding a 30th birthday party following the humiliation.
His party had been arranged months earlier and guests were flying in so he could hardly be expected to cancel it.
The Madrid fans who took so long to be won over by their best player are sticking by him and supporting him, but they are aware he must turn it around soon because Madrid face a serious run of big matches.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side had a great chance to get back on track on Saturday against Deportivo La Coruna, a team they had beaten 8-2 at the start of the season.
Ancelotti got his players together before the match and, while acknowledging a difficult week when there were even suggestions that reserve team manager and club legend Zinedine Zidane would take his position, stated that the priority was winning.
They did that, but Ronaldo’s form is not what it was at the start of the season.
He pushes himself to the maximum twice a week but he is not a machine – he has ups and downs.
His greatest rival, Lionel Messi, has had two similar dips in form in the past year.
Ronaldo, who has just three shots on target in the past five games, will not have enjoyed Messi making up ground in the goalscorer’s table, but he still has not caught him and has 26 league goals to Ronaldo’s 28. No other player comes close.
Against Deportivo, Ronaldo assisted Karim Benzema for the second goal in a 2-0 win and showed some encouraging signs as his side stayed a point clear at the top.
That Madrid are not at their best at the same time as Ronaldo is no surprise – the two are intertwined.
There is concern over other Madrid players, chiefly Gareth Bale, but Isco is the form man. Madrid need their best players to be on song if they are to become the first team since AC Milan in 1990 to retain the European Cup.
They will be clear favourites against Schalke in Gelsinkirchen on Wednesday night, but Italian manager Roberto di Matteo has done well there since taking over in October.
He has impressed with his fluent German and his side have climbed to fourth in the Bundesliga, with Cameroonian striker Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting linking well with former Madrid striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
They held Bayern Munich to a draw in Bavaria two weeks ago, though they lost at Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
Huntelaar left the Bernabeu in 2009, the same year Ronaldo arrived, and had never fulfilled his potential in Spain, while Ronaldo has been a continued success at Madrid, with dips in performances rare.
Ronaldo will come back, but he has created a monster in setting the standards so high that people are worrying about him in a season where he has already scored 28 league goals and 36 in all competitions.
He has been so good that he is considered invincible.
He is not.
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