Is Eden Hazard really better than Cristiano Ronaldo?

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho comments regarding Eden Hazard and Cristiano Ronaldo this week naturally turned heads. The Portuguese manager has worked with both players, Ronaldo during his time at Real Madrid and with Hazard in his current spell as Chelsea boss, so is well positioned to judge the ability of the pairing.

[REPORT: Jose Mourinho says Eden Hazard is better than Cristiano Ronaldo]

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Naturally, a manager must enthuse about his current player, but Mourinho’s comments were enough to surprise even the staunchest of Chelsea fans. Ronaldo was a goalscoring machine last season, netting 48 league goals. To put that into context - the Madrid star alone scored more league goals than 56 of the 98 teams in Europe’s top five leagues last term.

His goal contribution helped him gain a WhoScored.com rating of 8.48, which was unsurprisingly enough to secure a starring role in the European team of the season. His rating was also bettered only by adversary Lionel Messi (8.84) in Europe in what was a notable campaign for the Portuguese, despite failing to land domestic or European silverware for Madrid. Hazard, in contrast, ended the campaign with a Premier League and Capital One Cup winners’ medal, with his WhoScored.com rating (7.96) the best in the Premier League and enough to earn him a spot in WhoScored’s team of the season along with Ronaldo.

While Ronaldo had the higher rating, one can perhaps understand Mourinho’s comments that Hazard was the better player. The duo are currently different breeds of attacker, with Ronaldo developing his game to become more of a focal point in the Madrid attack as he has matured. At 30 years of age, the Portugal international’s ability to run at opposition defences has declined, meaning he was forced to alter his approach in order to maximise his ability. That isn’t to say this aspect of Ronaldo’s game has deserted him, but rather limited his capability to beat opponents with sheer pace and power as he has aged. 

Hazard’s greatest asset, on the other hand, is to run with the ball at the opposition at speed, with his WhoScored.com strength of ‘dribbling’ dubbed ‘very strong’ and for good reason. The Belgian completed more successful dribbles (181) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues last season. In comparison, Ronaldo completed just 54 successful dribbles, instead favouring to shoot when the opportunity presented itself. As one might expect, the Madrid star averaged more shots per game (6.4) than any other performer in Europe. 

In their own right, each player excelled. However, given Hazard was able to drive his side to silverware, one understands Mourinho’s remarks that he was the better player. Ronaldo operates in a division where Madrid are one of the most dominant sides, with Los Blancos expected to massively outscore their opponents given the need to entertain the fans. While the club failed to land a trophy, Madrid did just this, scoring the most league goals (118) in Europe, with Ronaldo responsible for 40.7% of those. 

Hazard may have failed to match Ronaldo’s figures in both goals (14) and assists (nine to Ronaldo’s 16), but having often been targeted by opposing sides as Chelsea’s primary offensive threat, this at times limited - to an extent - the Belgian’s influence in the final third. Hazard was fouled more times (113) than any other player in England’s top tier last term, but that did not prevent him from playing more key passes (101) and making more successful passes in the final third (1165) than any other player. 

The persistent fouling may have disrupted Chelsea’s rhythm, but it did little to deter Hazard from doing what he does best in attack. Given how quickly he has improved with Mourinho at the helm, it’s feasible to speculate that the Belgian will indeed better his performances in the upcoming campaign. However, if Ronaldo is, as reports suggest, moved into a more central role in attack – a possibility with rumours abounding that Karim Benzema is set to sign for Arsenal – the latter has the potential to better his astronomical goal haul in the upcoming campaign.

Ultimately, the most important stat in football is goals scored, which Ronaldo did with aplomb. Hazard may have carried a consistent offensive threat, but Ronaldo not only outscored his Belgian counterpart, but had the superior conversion rate (21.4% to Hazard’s 17.5%). Mourinho's assertion that his winger was better than Ronaldo last season might not have been as outlandish as many have made out, given his performances for Chelsea, but the Madrid marksman was that bit better over the campaign.