'What Santos defines as playing well is much more important to him than what he defines as playing beautifully.' Even though you have players like Felix, Jota, Bernardo and others like Pedro Neto coming through, you don't see much of that unpredictability that they are capable of providing with their clubs through line-breaking passes and in one-on-one situations. 'The truth is that any team that faces Portugal nowadays knows that most of the balls are addressed to Ronaldo. Fernando Santos has a much stronger squad to pick from than the one that won the Euros five years ago But on the other hand, if you consider that the Portuguese player is usually technically gifted and likes to combine and connect, Portugal lose a bit of this and also of flair. 'Santos assumes that with Ronaldo finishing the plays, Portugal get closer to converting them into goals, which is indeed true. 'It's important to bear in mind that Santos is clearly a resultadista manager, something that explains what he wants from Ronaldo, one of the best finishers in history,' adds Rui Malheiro, a football pundit for RTP and columnist for Record. It's necessary to rewind to the late 1980s, when Atletico Madrid legend Paulo Futre used to run the show on his own, to find any parallel to this dependence in the final third. Unsurprisingly, Portugal become a much more predictable side. The creativity and attacking fluidity are just not the same. Such is his imposing presence that when Ronaldo is on the pitch, his team-mates tend to play it safe and over-rely on him. And that does not include all the options in this alternative Ronaldo-less XI: Patricio (Wolves) Semedo (Wolves), Fonte (Lille), Duarte (Granada), Mendes (Sporting) Neves (Wolves), Oliveira (Porto), Sanches (Lille) Neto (Wolves), A Silva (Eintracht Frankfurt), Trincao (Barcelona). With Ronaldo, the rest of the players seem to have their decision-making unconsciously affected by the need to pass the ball to him.' This graphic shows how Portugal lined up without Ronaldo against Croatia in September. 'In Ronaldo's absence, Portugal play in a more relaxed and uncomplicated way, especially because there isn't a reference around who is actually bigger than the team. 'We've got more world-class players now, so Santos has to figure out how he can still get the best out of Ronaldo at this point without sacrificing the emerging stars. 'When you compare this team to the 2016 Euros-winning side, there's a significant talent gap between them,' says Tomas da Cunha, a football pundit for Eleven Sports and TSF radio. In other circumstances, that would have been more than enough to justify his untouchable status, but it no longer appears to be the case. Portugal's 2019 Nations League triumph followed success at Euro 2016 He has averaged over a goal a game since then - 17 in 16 matches, helping his side win the Nations League that summer.

Ronaldo only returned to international football in March 2019, wasting no time in proving that his killer instinct was still there. Over six matches, the Portuguese did quite well, remaining undefeated and topping their Nations League group ahead of Poland and Italy. He was given a rest after moving from Real Madrid to Juventus that summer. While he insists Ronaldo is the only irreplaceable player and guaranteed a place in his starting XI, there is a growing school of thought that the national team would be a far better and more entertaining one without the Juventus striker.ДЄs Portugal kick off their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign against Azerbaijan on Wednesday, the debate over whether what Ronaldo offers in terms of goals makes up for what he doesn't off the ball shows no sign of slowing down.ДЄ national hero, the 36-year-old superstar has never left the spotlight for his country, except for a nine-month absence following the team's elimination at the last-16 stage of the 2018 World Cup. Is almost like a political problem, something that will require a summit to achieve an agreement Sergio Pires Mais Futebol

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