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Cristiano Ronaldo has scored more goals this season than at the same point – February 11th – in the 2016-17 campaign.

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With his hat-trick against Real Sociedad on Saturday evening, Ronaldo took his tally for the season to 23: 11 in LaLiga, nine in the Champions League, two in the Club World Cup, and one in the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona.

At the same juncture last season, the Portugal international had found the net 21 times, including the goal he scored against Osasuna on February 11th. The breakdown of his goals at that point was as follows: 14 in LaLiga, two in the Champions League, one in the Copa del Rey, and four in the Club World Cup. Ronaldo ended last season with 42 goals to his name.

Full screen Sin titulo GABRIEL BOUYS (AFP)

The figures reveal that Ronaldo is maintaining his attacking threat, despite the fact that Real Madrid have been eliminated from the Copa del Rey and languish in third place in LaLiga. The team’s poor fortune has fueled the perception that Ronaldo is having a bad year on a personal level. A five-match suspension for pushing the referee in the Spanish Super Cup final meant he had to wait until September 20th to make his first appearance in LaLiga. Ronaldo made a slow start in the league. He had only score twice by the end of November. Yet the Champions League group stages – in which he scored nine goals – proved a powerful tonic in the closing months of 2017.

More goals, more wasteful

Although Ronaldo has scored more goals so far this season, he has also been more wasteful. By February 11th last season, he had scored 21 goals from 108 goals. This season, he has needed 136 shots to reach 23 goals, the consequence of a cocktail of bad luck and bad finishing.

The 33-year-old has cut a frustrated figure at times. His demeanour on the pitch has been negative. But in terms of the statistics that really matter, goals, he is better than last year.