Real Madrid need four goals to avoid their worst season ever in 21st century

Cristiano Ronaldo's departure for Turin left Real Madrid short of goalscorers. The Portuguese striker got his 450 goals and despite relying on Gareth Bale for ages to deliver, only Karim Benzema was able to get close to taking over and to try and get over the loss of their top scorer. 

Despite the Frenchman's 30 goals, the lack of hunger from Lopetegui's men, then under Solari and now Zidane, has damaged a team which has had nothing to play in League, Cup or Europe since March. They are just one game away from securing their worst stats of the century. 

Unless Real Madrid thrash Betis and score four goals, the team will register their lowest ever goalscoring tally in the league since the turn of the century. Up to now, Benzema, Bale, Asensio and company have accumulated just 63 goals and Betis will have to concede many if they want to get past the 66 of the 2006-07. 

Liewise, the graph made by 'ProFootballDB' shows that the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo has taken Madrid back to pre-Ronaldo numbers. A 'Cristiano dependency' which Real Madrid fans feared and which this season has confirmed with a tragic ending for the team which won the Champions League three times in a row. 

The 2-6 by Barcelona in the Santiago Bernabeu accelerated the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo in summer 2009 as well as the return of Florentino Perez as club president. In that fateful season, Real Madrid ended with 83 goals in the league. The worst registers of the decade, in which the Portuguese helped Madrid to reach maximums of 121 (2011-12) and 118 (2016-17). 

This season, Real Madrid have scored 40 goals less than the previous season and only four more than the year prior to the arrival of the Portuguese in all competitions. The team has gone from 2.3 goals per game to 1.9. Likewise, in La Liga, their average is 1.73 and you have to go back 19 years to find one worse (1.53). 

 

May 14, 2019