5 crucial penalty misses by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have had such unprecedented domination in the last 10 years in the world of football that sometimes we as fans need to be reminded that they are only human. People with divided opinions have had endless debates and will continue to have them till eternity about who is the better player and nobody doubts that the two of them take the top 2 spots.
A penalty, a 12-yard spot-kick is often a thankless job for penalty takers. You can only be blamed for missing it, you receive no accolades for converting those. Here we list 5 crucial misses of these two footballers which are just a reminder that to err is human and the 8 time cumulative Ballon d'Or winners are still human which we often forget in awe of their achievements.
5. Messi v Sevilla, 2011
La Liga’s recent history favours the Blaugrana side, winning 6 out of last 8 titles, but the Los Blancos did manage to win one title in the 2011-12 season under Jose Mourinho. It was a closely contested La Liga title race with Barcelona chasing Real Madrid most of the time. None of the two teams could afford to drop points, especially at home.
Barcelona's game against Sevilla at home that season was one such game where the Catalans would have expected all 3 points, only to be left frustrated with a 0-0 draw. In the end, they were left to rue all their missed chances. But, none of them would have hurt as much as the golden chance which went begging in the 95th minute of the game.
Barcelona were awarded a penalty in the stoppage time, thanks to their attacking pressure and Iniesta’s world class dribbling inside the box. As expected the dependable star Lionel Messi stepped forward to take it.
But the Argentine's penalty was saved and he was left frustrated with virtually the last kick of the game, thus dropping 2 crucial points much to the amusement of Madrid camp who went on to win their only La Liga title in the last 8 years.