Ronaldo's trophy haul at Real is pitiful and five things we learned from the Champions League this week

 

Cristiano may be celebrating another personal milestone but he has found team success hard to come by at Real, while Pep Guardiola is beginning to feel the heat at Bayern 

Congratulations to Cristiano Ronaldo for equalling Alfredo Di Stefano's tally of 307 Real Madrid goals with his penalty against Juventus on Wednesday night.

Ronaldo joined in the summer of 2009 meaning it has taken him under six years to hit that number whereas it took Di Stefano nearly twice that. Ronaldo is now alongside Di Stefano as Real's all-time second-highest goalscorer and is on course to obliterate Raul's record of 323 early next season. He has scored goals roughly at double the rate Raul did during his time at the Bernabeu.

Ronaldo, though, will leave Madrid with a trophy cabinet put entirely to shame by the man with whom he drew level this week. Alfredo Di Stefano defined that first Galactico era of Real Madrid's history and was part of teams which won eight la Liga titles and five European Cups. Ronaldo can only dream of such numbers. And do not think for a second that Real were a one-man team in those days. For James Rodriguez, read Ferenc Puskas. For Gareth Bale, Francisco Gento.

So what is the difference between the two?

A former Real Madrid team-mate of the late Di Stefano, Jose Emilio Santamaria, told Goal this week that while he regarded Ronaldo as an outstanding goalscorer, Di Stefano was easily the more complete player of the two.

"You ask me were there nicer or more exquisite players? There have been many," he said. "But, by performances and efficacy, there hasn't been anyone more complete than him."

That is the frustration with Cristiano Ronaldo. It seems Real Madrid are still geared up to play only for him. The money spent on James and Bale, and everyone else for that matter, is all to facilitate goals for Ronaldo; goals which hopefully will be enough to win matches and earn trophies for everyone. That has not been the case.

There has been one league title in Ronaldo's time at Real. There has been one Champions League. In a six-year spell for a player of his calibre at a club like Real, that is a pitiful return. Yet he is about to be crowned all-time top goalscorer and has won the last two Ballons d'Or. There is something amiss.

Ronaldo needs his team-mates to act as functionaries. They are there to give him goals. That is Plan A for Ronaldo and Plan A for whoever happens to be giving instructions in the dugout. When he is not on form, and he has not been consistent since January, then Madrid suffer badly. He has not demonstrated his ability lately to go by his full back and hit a shot at goal. He did not take a shot in the second half against Juventus and was marginalised on his station on the left wing.

The Champions League semi-finals, then, ran largely to form. Cristiano Ronaldo knocks in a penalty for a landmark goal but Real Madrid fail collectively. Maybe someday someone will work out if the two are related.

In the meantime, he continues his march to become the greatest individual Real Madrid has ever seen but he will never be part of its greatest team.

Back to Berlin for 2006 World Cup hero Buffon

The greatest moment of Gianluigi Buffon's career came in the summer of 2006 when Italy claimed the World Cup against France on penalty kicks in Berlin's Olympic Stadium. The goalkeeper now returns to the scene of his greatest triumph with Juventus and he could well clinch his first, and most probably only, Champions League title when the Bianconeri face Barcelona on June 6.

This has been a long time coming for Buffon, the Juve captain, who has made more than 500 appearances for the club since joining in 2001 as the world's most expensive keeper. His only other Champions League final with the club ended in bitter heartache in a shootout defeat to Carlo Ancelotti's AC Milan at Old Trafford in 2003.

The 37-year-old has seen plenty since then. That summer in 2006 also brought the shocking news that Juventus would be relegated following the Calciopoli scandal and they also had two Serie A titles revoked. The entire maelstrom seemed to galvanise the Italy squad, so many of whom were affected by the outcomes of the trials.

While some high-profile names departed, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Fabio Cannavaro among them, Buffon chose to remain with Juve and take the full punishment by playing in Serie B for the 2006-07 season.

It has been a tale of gradual improvement for Juve since those dark days. They have now won four titles on the trot, confirming themselves as Italy's greatest team, with Buffon playing a huge part against Real Madrid with a string of world-class saves.

"We reached our goal, we will not be tourists in Berlin," he told Mediaset. "I am proud of my team-mates and the growth we had. When you have the opportunity to play games like that you have to win."

And now, the biggest achievement of his club career lies in store. Facing him are three of the best forwards in the world, all in the form of their lives. However, it is one of modern football's great paradoxes that its greatest goalkeeper has not been decorated with the top club honour. Nobody would begrudge Gianluigi Buffon that much when he eventually walks onto the field in Berlin and recalls what happened nine years ago against France.

Pep's legacy on the line

Pep Guardiola's reputation has taken a battering over these two matches whatever way you slice it. The absences of David Alaba and Arjen Robben admittedly blunted Bayern over the two legs against Barcelona but coaches at three top level teams in particular - Bayern, Real Madrid and Barca - are expected to cover for the loss of key individuals either through a tactical readjustment or the deployment of the right replacements. Guardiola managed neither.

His approach to the first leg was a total botch. Constant tactical tweaks seem to have left the players unsure of their exact requirements game by game. Where Barcelona brought their own game to bear over the course of the two legs, Bayern could not. They were muddled. Guardiola tried to counter Barca's strengths by setting his team up to neutralise. It was doomed to fail.

"You can only beat Barca if you take the ball off them," he said. "We had a lot of difficulties but we never gave up. A big team has to cope with defeats like today or against Borussia Dortmund in the German Cup. I would like to play even better and have all my best players available, which I do not have. But I am happy and pleased with how we played."

The general public is judging Guardiola and Bayern to a different standard than any other coach and club whether that is fair or not. That is as a direct result of what he achieved at Barcelona. As such, Bayern are expected to at least make the final of this competition every season. That is the standard Jupp Heynckes set by winning the treble in 2013. That is the standard Guardiola is expected to maintain.

Now there is some revisionism going on. It is reductive, yet also accurate, to say Guardiola took a treble-winning team to two trophies in his first season and only one in his second. It is also true that with Lionel Messi in his team he was the best coach in the world and yet without him he is not.

As such, Guardiola's legacy is very much on the line as he heads into his final season with Bayern. He is seen as visionary and charlatan in equal measure.

There is another trio that Barcelona need to thank

The Messi-Suarez-Neymar triumvirate is rightly drinking in the acclaim for scoring 25 of 28 Barca goals this season in the Champions League. It is a rare thing indeed to have three forwards as talented as these functioning effectively together in the same lineup.

Furthermore, they are not only playing for themselves. There is a warmth and a camaraderie in their play as evidenced in Neymar's unselfish squaring of the ball for Messi in the last minute against Bayern and the fact that 17 of Luis Suarez's 20 assists this season have been to either Messi or Neymar. Three massive egos that all seem to gel well, it is almost unheard of.

As limelight-thieves go, Barca could not ask for three better strikers. It is the three players further back the field, however, who are giving MSN their base to launch attacks. Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic and Andres Iniesta are providing Barcelona's backbone. Without them this season that fabled front three would undoubtedly malfunction.

Luis Enrique is overseeing possibly the best-ever trio of attackers in the history of club football. It does not just happen by itself though and allowances have to be made in order to field all three together. The Barca coach was a clever, adaptable midfielder in his day and he has found all the right solutions in the centre of the pitch for his team.

Busquets sits deepest of the three in a position that he has made his own in world football. His role has not changed too much this season. His positional discipline and ability to block and intercept have long made Barca the team that wins the ball back most rapidly.

Rakitic, meanwhile, has slotted in seamlessly and brought a vision and stamina to the midfield. He is adept at finding his forwards with accurate passes that not everybody can see. People have forgotten about Xavi very quickly thanks to the Croat and his link-up capabilities.

While Iniesta's goal and assist numbers have decreased since the three up front have got together he is now free to influence play a little further back the pitch. He is ghosting into space and linking the Barca attacks as well as ever.

"You have to celebrate the fact we've reached the final," Iniesta said. "We are where we wanted to be but won't just be happy with that, we want to win titles. We are in a final and it is within our reach. We will try and win it."

Messi, Suarez and Neymar can do things other players can only dream of and because of their unique talents they are given a relative free pass going the other direction. It is not often you see them chasing back to make sure Barca have enough numbers in their own half. As such it is left to the best of the rest to make sure Barca are not compromised as they leave MSN free to wreak havoc.

These three midfielders are not getting the adulation they deserve quite simply because the MSN trio has been so devastating in front of goal. But without Busquets-Rakitic-Iniesta it would not be so.

Thiago must wish he was back at Barca

Thiago Alcantara must have looked at Rafinha at the final whistle on Tuesday night following Bayern Munich's defeat and wished he could have been wearing the same shirt as his brother. It is nearly two years since Thiago left Barcelona to join Pep Guardiola at Bayern. While he has won two Bundesliga titles as well as a DFB Pokal he must wonder if his career is any better for having left Camp Nou.

Thiago left Barcelona because he saw his path to the first team blocked by Xavi and Cesc Fabregas among others. With Xavi now firmly a substitute and Cesc having departed, there would surely have been more opportunity for Thiago to play, and make an impact, had he remained with Barca.

"It's the perfect club for any footballer to develop and to grow, because as everybody knows La Masia can give you stability; they take care of you when you leave home," he told Uefa last week. "They show you the affection you need when you leave home. You have the chance to study there and it makes you grow as a player and as a person."

He would fit very nicely indeed into this team too. He has the ability on the ball, the work rate and that special touch of ingenuity required to excel. He knows Barcelona like the back of his hand and was initially expected to carry on the legacy of Xavi as well as his current coach Guardiola in the centre of Barca's midfield. He was impatient.

The truth of the matter is that Thiago's spell in Bavaria has been cursed. When he has played, Bayern have looked complete and he was described by Pep as the only player he wanted to sign. However, he has been injured all too often and has had his recoveries interrupted by being mishandled.

Guardiola has only one more year left on his Bayern contract and is unlikely to sign a new one. Then what for Thiago? He is seen as emblematic of the Guardiola regime at Bayern. There may not be a place for him once Guardiola departs.

He will have his pick of the clubs but a player of his standing cannot simply be expected to slot in and start again. He demands a system be constructed to incorporate him. He would have had that at Barca but was in a rush for first team football.

Thiago has not played even half the number of games he would have expected to at Bayern. Had he remained patient he would probably have a Champions League final to look forward to the first week in June.