Cristiano Ronaldo is good at a hell of a lot of things on a football pitch, and one of those things is free-kicks. We all remember some of the cracking set pieces he has banged in over the years, with his 'knuckle ball' strike against Portsmouth in 2008 one of the most iconic free-kicks in recent memory.
This effort against Spain in last year's World Cup wasn't bad either.
Looking at those efforts, this next stat may come as a bit of a shock.
According to Ultimo Uomo, after Juventus' game against Verona on Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo is now officially the second-worst free-kick taker in Serie A history.
The Portuguese superstar has now failed to score in all 18 of his attempts since joining the club. That mark places him behind only Camillo Ciano, the Frosinone who failed to score in 21 attempts.
When that is extended to the Champions League, he has not scored in 24 free-kicks, 15 of which hit the wall.
While Ronaldo's free-kicks are no doubt spectacular when they do come off, this stat is not all that surprising. There is always expectation in the air when he stands over a dead ball, but there is quite often a sense of disappointment when he inevitably fails to score.
His record on a percentage basis is not great, but that is often masked by the eye-catching nature of those he does score.
Ronaldo was criticised at times in Madrid for failing to allow more efficient players to take free-kicks, and a similar situation is now developing in Turin. Miralem Pjanić is considered to be one of the best dead ball specialists in Serie A, but how now been consigned to duty as backup.
Of course, none of this is to doubt Ronaldo's ability as a player. He is one of the greatest of all time. Maybe he should just take a break from the free-kicks for a few weeks?
