It's not just the salvaged goals, it's the performances we saw without Ronaldo in the squad too. Everyone saw ole trying to play on the front foot more even pre Ronaldo.
pre-Ronaldo we were tragic at the back end of last season - we were the most fortunate team ever to not even concede to Wolves in our 1-0 win early in the current season either. These performances for me justify that even without Ronaldo, we'd be in a similar boat (if not worse off with no CL).
Without Ronaldo in the CL, where would the goals have come from? We have Rashford completely off the boil, Sancho hadn't found his footing yet, Cavani injury prone, Bruno's goal contributions haven't been great since the back end of last season, and the guy we shall not name just cut in and shot all game long.
I really don't see us getting through that group without him. Change Ronaldo for Cavani and there would not have been a big difference in the performances, bar the goals Ronny scored.
I think we lose to Atalanta both times without Ronaldo, which sees us exit. I don't see the 2-1 win against Villareal either. Maybe we beat Young Boys under Rangnick but it doesn't make a difference in the end.
I don't think he's done well for us this season, but in the champions league his performances did improve, and if you don't see that I don't know what games you've been watching. IMO it's a very biased opinion to have saying he was poor in the CL too.