Manchester United host Arsenal at Old Trafford on Thursday evening in a Premier League classic, and it’s in the bigger games that Cristiano Ronaldo tends to shine.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man and all that.
The Portuguese has already dug the Red Devils out of a few holes this season, mainly in Europe, though his general all-round play could be improved.
It’s easy to forget sometimes that he is in his mid 30s, even if he does look after himself and is in better condition than players much younger.
Age clearly isn’t a barrier to his excellence, but one stat potentially explains his loss of form.
In the last 17 club appearances, Ronaldo has, somewhat incredibly, played under four different managers.
Andrea Pirlo and Max Allegri at Juventus, and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Michael Carrick at Manchester United. By the time of the next round of Premier League games, Ralf Rangnick will have been added to that list.
The different styles of football and different ways of working will undoubtedly take a toll, so perhaps Ronaldo should be judged at season’s end and not now.