Will Cristiano Ronaldo Halt Barcelona's Dominance?

as seen on Sports Pundit

FIFA World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo scored yet again in Wednesday’s 2-0 triumph at Villarreal, signaling his Real Madrid are ready to threaten Barcelona’s firm grip on the La Liga title.

The 24-year-old Portuguese superstar has asserted himself on the Bernabeu faithful with an incredible start to life in Madrid with 7 goals in 5 matches in all competitions.

Ronaldo’s prolific form has inspired Real to a 100% start in the league, with 4 wins from 4 matches combined with an impressive +11 goal difference already.

Yet somehow Real are second in the league, behind brilliant European champions FC Barcelona who head them only on goals scored at this stage. Barcelona, too, have begun the new season in equally scintillating form.

Expectations from many pundits prior to this season was that big-spending Real Madrid would need time for their new faces to gel, but they’ve begun ominously.

And while Real hasn’t been playing brilliant free-flowing football throughout contests, Ronaldo’s individual brilliance is getting the job done.

When new superstars such as Karim Benzema and Kaka (who incidentally both each scored their first goals for the club in the last week) begin to settle into this Real Madrid side along with the likes of Xabi Alonso and Raul Albiol, then the Galacticos may be what they’re billed up to be.

Barcelona, who enjoy the services of their own list of superstars such as Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Xavi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, were seen as firm title favourites prior to the season kick-off.But Real’s brilliant early form has caused a re-think, with Ronaldo’s sensational start the clear catalyst.

It begs the question, when will Ronaldo play a game for Real Madrid and not actually score? It’s a frightening prospect for the Catalans.

But Barcelona are, of course, a wonderful side who have been playing lovely football (not just winning matches) for some time now and they retain their favouritism.

The point is, though, Ronaldo and Real’s start to the campaign has shaken the La Liga title race up to being one of Europe’s most intriguing battles this term.

Sure it’ll be a two-horse race but it’ll be a well-run battle.

The fans will watch on with not only a good title race, but with plenty of superb football on display, pitting the world's two best players (Messi and Ronaldo) against one another.

The early indications suggest, it’s got all the elements of an enthralling and thoroughly engrossing campaign.