Ronaldo's single-minded goal

When Cristiano Ronaldo, Cris to his friends, doesn't play, Real Madrid changes its system. After a match against Racing Santander, José Mourinho explained: "Today [Esteban] Granero played very well because the diamond system we used is well adapted to his characteristics." Against Valencia, Real again lined up without its top scorer. After that game, Mourinho implied he'd set up the side to give Kaká a role in which he excels: "Kaká had a fantastic game in a position that he enjoys playing in. It's the tactical system that he grew up with in Milan."

The Portuguese has made it understood, in public and in private, that if his players shine it is because of the mechanisms he employs to ensure they do. The most extreme case is that of Ronaldo. Before the final match in Real's clásico series against Barcelona, the Champions League semifinal second leg at Camp Nou, Mourinho and Ronaldo displayed in front of the rest of the team the discord that has been simmering between them in recent weeks. According to a witness, Mourinho told Ronaldo: "Cris, don't complain that we are playing defensively because it's your fault we play like this. Because you don't want to defend."

Ronaldo was incandescent after being dropped against Zaragoza as punishment. Mourinho told him it was deserved because he had publicly criticized his tactics. The Portuguese coach added Ronaldo had no place to complain, as in Real's system each player defends and harries to free Ronaldo to concentrate exclusively on his quest for records.

It seems Mourinho is convinced that if Ronaldo is the most prolific scorer in the world it is thanks to his system, which allows the forward to lie in wait, saving energy, and use his explosive pace to bear down on goal. In this system, which could be termed a 1-9-1, Ronaldo has had 226 shots in total this season; across Europe, Didier Drogba has pulled the trigger 144 times, Leo Messi 140 and Antonio Di Natale 134. The number 7 believes every game is fundamental. He is not just chasing the Pichichi Trophy for La Liga's top scorer, but the record of 38 league goals held by Telmo Zarra and Hugo Sánchez.

In an improved but ultimately disappointing season - a first King's Cup for nearly 20 years is testament to Mourinho's professionalism but also to the disregard in which his predecessors held the competition in less barren epochs- the Pichichi Trophy has assumed exalted importance. Barça's pre-eminence in Spain has been firmly established but a top scorer gong, with Messi, the player considered by many to be the best forward in the world, in direct competition with Ronaldo, will embellish the reputation of two Portuguese accustomed to accumulating personal accolades.

One last objective

"We still have one objective: to ensure Ronaldo finishes as top scorer," said Aitor Karanka, again filling in for the sulking Mourinho. "It's logical that some of his teammates look for him."

Against Sevilla last weekend, Ronaldo added four to his tally, and his hat-trick in Real's 4-0 win over Getafe on Tuesday was largely the product of his colleagues' generosity. Messi, who did not score in Barcelona's 2-0 Catalan derby win, has 31 to Ronaldo's 36. But for all Mourinho's accent on defense, Iker Casillas will not add to his one Zamora trophy for the league's least-breached keeper; Víctor Valdés, who has three already, has conceded just 15 times, less than half of Casillas' 31.