5 biggest penalty misses of Cristiano Ronaldo's career
Cristiano Ronaldo’s rise from the lanky youngster who caught the attention of Sir Alex Ferguson to one of the greatest players of all time has been simply magical. The number of records he has broken and the number of individual accolades he has won is almost unbelievable and there are times when fans are left to wonder, is there anything that the Portuguese superstar is not capable of doing on a football pitch.
Ronaldo is one of the most prolific goal scorers ever in the history of the game and the way the Real Madrid talisman constantly keeps finding the back of the net is astounding. A small portion of those goals comes from penalties and the former Manchester United player is one of the most reliable penalty takers in Europe. However, there have been instances where Ronaldo has missed the all important kick from 12-yards, which often reminds fans that the 31-year-old is still human.
A few of those misses came at crucial moments and has cost his side dearly. This piece mentions 5 of the biggest penalty misses of the Portuguese superstar’s career.
#5 vs Barcelona, 23rd April 2008
Manchester United locked horns with Barcelona in the semi-finals of the 2007-08 Champions League season and the first leg of the tie was played at the Camp Nou. The match had an eventful start as United were awarded a penalty just 2 minutes into the game when Ronaldo’s goal-bound header struck Diego Milito’s arm. Ronaldo himself stepped up to take the penalty hoping to hand United an early lead and more importantly, a crucial away goal.
But the Portuguese superstar‘s attempt went horribly wrong as his shot was not even good enough to test Victor Valdes in the Barcelona goal. Ronaldo blasted his kick wide of Valdes’s left-hand post and the away fans were left stunned when they saw their number seven, who had already netted 38 times at that point in the season, was unable to hit the target from 12 yards.
However, Ronaldo wasn’t left to rue his miss, at least after the second leg, as United advanced to the final courtesy of Paul Scholes’s 25-yard strike at Old Trafford which was the only goal of the tie.