Has Cristiano Ronaldo Made Al Nassr Worse?

Has Cristiano Ronaldo made Al Nassr worse? Ronaldo scored 14 goals in his first season in Saudi Arabia but Al Nassr's results were better when he did not play.

Cristiano Ronaldo ended his first season in Saudi Arabia with 14 goals in 19 starts for Al Nassr.

But that was not enough to fire his team to a trophy as champions Al-Ittihad finished five points ahead of Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League table.

Al Nassr also fell short in the Saudi Super Cup and the King Cup, exiting both of those competitions with Ronaldo in the team.

Ronaldo did not play in Al Nassr's final game of the season, which saw them end on a high by beating Al Fateh 3-0 on Wednesday.

Has Cristiano Ronaldo Improved Al Nassr?

Ronaldo has certainly enhanced the profile of Al Nassr.

The club's official Instagram following has grown from 800,000 to almost 15 million since the five-time Ballon d'Or winner arrived in January.

But has Ronaldo improved Al Nassr on the field? The results suggest not.

Cristiano Ronaldo scored 14 goals in 19 games during his first season for Al Nassr but the team's win percentage got worse following his arrival :: IMAGO/Power Sport Images/Victor Fraile

Al Nassr won 10 of their 14 league games without Ronaldo this season, drawing three and losing just one.

With Ronaldo in the team, they won 10 league matches, drew four and lost two.

Al Nassr earned 2.36 points per game without Ronaldo this season.

With Ronaldo in the team, they won just 2.13 points per game.

As a collective, Al Nassr have averaged 1.95 goals per match in all competitions when Ronaldo has been involved.

The team, previously spearheaded by Cameroon forward Vincent Aboubakar, had been averaging 2.07 goals per game before Ronaldo first took to the field in Saudi Arabia in January.

That average rose to 2.13 goals per game without Ronaldo after two strikes by Brazilian Talisca inspired Al Nassr to a 3-0 victory on the final day of the season.

Al Nassr With Cristiano Ronaldo Vs Without Him

	With Ronaldo	Without Ronaldo
Games (all comps):	19	15
Wins:	11	11
Draws:	4	3
Losses:	4	1
Win-rate:	57.89%	73.33%
Goals per game:	1.95	2.13
League games:	16	14
Points per league game:	2.13	2.36

One explanation for Al Nassr's drop in form since signing one of the greatest players of all time could be that Ronaldo's star-struck teammates have tried too hard to serve him, leading to them making poor tactical decisions.

Former Al Nassr coach Rudi Garcia warned his players about this following Ronaldo's debut.

Speaking in January, Garcia said: "It's very important for the players to play normally and not always try to give the ball to Cristiano."

Garcia was fired less than three months later amid rumors of a tactical dispute with his star striker.

Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr after falling out with former manager Erik ten Hag at Manchester United.

Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr after falling out with Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag :: IMAGO/PA Images/Mark Pain

Despite replacing Ronaldo with the underwhelming loan signing of Wout Weghorst, Ten Hag's United improved noticeably as a team after parting company with the Portuguese frontman.

United were fifth in the Premier League with a goal difference of zero when Ronaldo left Old Trafford in November.

The rejuvenated Red Devils went on to end the EPL season in third place with a goal difference of 15.

Ten Hag's side also won the EFL Cup in February and have qualified for the FA Cup final, which will see them take on Manchester City on Saturday.

Ronaldo still has two years left to run on his contract with Al Nassr.