Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest player in Real Madrid history and arguably the greatest player in the history of world football.
He transformed Real Madrid back into the biggest juggernaut in European football, winning four Champions League titles with them after they were in the purgatory of perennial early-round knockout losses.
Worth every penny of the 94 million euros Real Madrid spent to sign him from Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo won Champions League titles with two different managers and broke records with five in total.
Under Jose Mourinho, Cristiano was a counterattacking menace whose explosiveness was a sight to behold. Then when Carlo Ancelotti rolled into town, Cristiano was settling into a groove as an all-around attacking monster with improving off-ball efficiency.
By the time Zinedine Zidane arrived, Cristiano was achieving sporting excellence in big games that not even Michael Jordan could match.
He was ruthlessly efficient and developed an understanding of the game beyond compare, using every blade of grass to his advantage and rounding out a well-oiled tactical system that was about an ingrained understanding among elite teammates who could pretty much communicate telepathically.
According to the numbers, Cristiano was great with all three of these managers – and also Manuel Pellegrini and Rafael Benitez. Ancelotti, Mourinho, and Zidane were the most successful Real Madrid managers and the ones Cristiano played more than 100 games for, but which one did the Portuguese superstar have the most success with?
The answer is Carlo Ancelotti, which doesn’t come as a surprise, considering Cristiano played for the Italian during his own athletic peak.
Furthermore, Carletto is fabled for being something of an attacking whisperer. Just ask the men he coached at AC Milan – or even current Real Madrid stars like Jude Bellingham and Vinicius Junior.
Cristiano Ronaldo played a career-high 164 matches under fellow countryman Jose Mourinho, scoring 168 goals and 49 assists to average a ridiculous 1.32 goal contributions per game.
He logged 114 matches while three-peating with Zinedine Zidane, scoring 112 times with 30 assists in a more “striker” role to average 1.25 goals and assists per match.
Finally, sandwiched in between those periods with Carlo Ancelotti, Cristiano Ronaldo conquered La Decima and played a total of 101 matches with 112 goals and 47 assists to average a whopping 1.57 goals and assists per contest.
All of Cristiano’s averages with those Real Madrid coaches are ridiculous, but putting up over 1.50 goal contributions per game over an extended period of years is absurd.
Ancelotti brought a different level of attacking excellence out of Real Madrid, and, at his absolute peak, Cristiano Ronaldo unequivocally delivered for the legendary Italian coach.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He has been an editor for NFL Spin Zone, Daily DDT for pro wrestling, Autzen Zoo covering the Oregon Ducks, Musket Fire covering the New England Patriots, The Real Champs covering Real Madrid, Old Juve covering Juventus, Rush The Kop covering Liverpool, and Release The Knappen covering Schalke. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.