We would have bought some other big player, not Ronaldo. Ronaldo bumped us up at least 2/3 spots in that favorite for CL ranking, no other player would have had this impact. I am not sure where we would stand without Ronaldo because that's purely hypothetical. I always believed that this team was lacking that killer instinct and certainly Ronaldo's arrival changed a few things.
We would have been top 4, maybe 3, on a good day we would be able to win against anyone but also lose against anyone on a bad day. Please remember the struggles we had in both games against Barcelona and Tottenham last season, let alone the game against Real Madrid at home. Right now, there is no other team that is performing at out level and hopefully this stays this way until May.