Revan, woot?
Ronaldo is not in the same tier as Di Stéfano and Cruyff. Just to focus on the latter, once we're out of 'the moment' of his EURO afterglow, or when Ronaldo's retired - and people look back at his career, he will definitely be considered inferior to Johan.
Athleticism: An argument repeated in Cristiano's favor, and how he's a complete attacker. Cruyff matches him step for step in an era based comparison - magnificent athlete, probably the most balanced footballer ever - who refused to go down after tackles, evasive, two footed, quick, great in the air (10% of his goals came via headers). Ronaldo is more built - and has more muscles, but Cruyff was a remarkable football based athlete who was both agile and strong on and off the ball.
Goal-scoring prowess: Advantage Ronaldo for this criterion. He's admittedly a better goalscorer - hungrier, gets into better positions, takes cleaner routes; and while Cruyff regularly scorer 30+ goals per season at his peak, he's no match for Ronaldo in terms volume based goal-scoring statistical impact.
Creativity and technique: This is where Cruyff pulls away. One of the top European passers of all time across all positions, and not just for attackers. ANd one of the greatest technicians (if not THE greatest) in football history. You could measure his impact on the game in terms of statistics, and key passes, and chances created - but to fully grasp his ability to have an impact on the game from all over the pitch, you have to rewatch his games and get overwhelmed by his beautiful ball control, and touch and general contributions to the flow of the match (something Ronaldo has struggled with for a while now).
Tactical acumen and leadership: Again, advantage Cruyff - who was Michels' on-field general, and one step ahead of the opponents. Time and time again, Cruyff floated across to cover weak-spots, bark orders, get players into position - while Ronaldo demands more freedom for himself, and can act petulant when things don't go his way. Cruyff would win penalties and give them to his team-mates to preserve the harmony (apparently scored 10):
Ronaldo would gladly strip the ball off 'em and attempt a bunk free-kick, or take a freebie from the spot.
International performance: Ronaldo winning the EURO doesn't settle things here. On a performance basis he wasn't even in the Top 10 of the 2016 Championship. Whereas Cruyff owned World Cup 1974 - with only Maradona 1986 and Platini 1984 being conclusively superior performances in an international tournament:
Coincidentally, both Ronaldo and Cruyff scorer 3 and assisted 3, but:
Impact on the club: Ajax was a European football dwarf, and Cruyff helped lead them to 3 European Cup finals, and 3 straight wins. That's in stark contrast with Ronaldo's European Cup wins (though again, coincidentally 0 they stand at 3 wins apiece). Ajax had it lowest historical rating when Cruyff made his debut:
From there, he helped take them to their highest aggregate rating ever, in about half a decade.
Goes to Barcelona, and does stuff like this:
Legacy in pure footballing terms: Cruyff is one of the founders of a revolutionized brand of totaalvoetbal - after Sárosi and Sindelar and co. And comparable to the likes of Di Stéfano, Pedernera, Pelé, Zizinho - on a more global scale - in terms of being a player that transcended his position. Ditto for Beckenbauer - who 'made' the libero position. 50 years from now, Beckenbauer will still be THE Lebero, and Cruyff will still be the most iconic total footballer. It's a pity that folks are ready to propel Ronaldo into the Cruyff/Beckenbauer tier on the basis of the European Cup win, and now the EURO - where he wasn't overly impressive either. Kinda like checking off an item on a checklist.
