Although Cristiano Ronaldo has continued to score goals and set records since moving to Al Nassr from Manchester United, the team's statistics following the Portuguese's arrival are troubling.

Towards the conclusion of 2022, the 38-year-old left Manchester United and joined Al Nassr.

He had previously given a controversial interview to Piers Morgan in which he asserted that he had little regard for Erik Ten Hag and criticised the team for "remaining the same" following his original departure in 2009. When he joined the Saudi Arabia Giants, they were, albeit by a slim margin, in first place in the Saudi Pro League.

Al Nassr went into 2023 with 26 points from 11 matches, having won eight games and losing just once. That form saw them establish a point’s lead over Al Shabab who had a game in hand.

Al Nassr’s 2022 form

After the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, however, the club seems to have fallen off for some reason, if stats are anything to go by.

According to Footy Stats, Al Nassr have drawn three and lost once in their 12 league matches since Ronaldo’s arrival, a run that has seen them lose their top status on the table to Al Ittihad, who now sit three points clear.

In addition, s Super Cup defeat to Al-Ittihad 3-1 now means Al Nassr have lost twice in the same season to their bitter rivals.

Does Ronaldo make teams worse?

Ronaldo has always been used as a scapegoat wherever he has gone since leaving Real Madrid in 2018. At United, it was a similar story as Ronaldo emerged as the club’s top scorer in 2021/22, but the club ended up in 6th at the end of the season.

A topsy-turvy first half of the 2022/23 campaign for Unite led to a general feeling that perhaps Ronaldo was setting the team back, and it was similar case in his final season with Juventus, who finished fourth in 2020/21, and have never won the league since.