Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi - who is the GOAT from the penalty spot?
Cristiano Ronaldo lined up for the Bianconeri as the Italian giants stepped on the field to continue their invincible run in the Serie A this season to face the bottom-placed side, Chievo.
As expected, league leaders Juventus had a comfortable 3-0 win over the minnows. However, something unusual also took place as Ronaldo failed to convert the penalty kick in the seventh minute of the second half. It's a rare sight in football when the penalty-spot veteran fails to convert from the set-piece in the 18-yard box.
The Portuguese struck the ball hard and low, towards the bottom right-hand corner of Stefano Sorrentino's goalpost, only to see the 39-year-old veteran shot-stopper to produce a mesmerizing save, guiding the ball aside from the post.
Along with having an impressive record of converting 114 penalty kicks, this was the 25th occasion when the Portuguese failed to get the better of the opposition's goalkeeper. Including the penalty shoot-outs, the 33-year-old equates to a conversion rate of just over 82 percent from the spot.
The left-winger was the man all eyes would turn to, during his tenure at the Spanish capital, whenever Real Madrid were awarded a crucial penalty, and Ronaldo never disappointed. It is a thing to note that Sergio Ramos and Ronaldo's penalty miss cost them a place in the 2011/12 UCL final. However, now, both the former teammates are maintaining an impressive record from the penalty-spot; despite being a defender, Sergio Ramos has been stepping up to take the penalty kicks since Ronaldo's departure to Turin.
The statistics that will satisfy both Ronaldo and his fans are that his eternal on-field rival, Lionel Messi, has missed the equal number of penalties despite taking 31 fewer penalties in his career.
The little magician has scored 83 goals from the penalty-spot and has missed an equal number of penalties as the Portuguese - 25 each.
With successful conversions of 83 shots out of the 108 taken, the Barcelona legend has a conversion rate of around 77 percent. Considering the difference in the success rate, the Portuguese is inches ahead of his nemesis, Lionel Messi.
There is always so little to separate these two extraordinary players of our footballing generation. Their domination over the Ballon d'Or was recently ended by Croatian captain, Luka Modric. However, the two extraterrestrials have shown no signs of giving up, as they are both top-scorers in their respective leagues and are looking more stronger as the crucial stages of the season approach.
Talking about Cristiano Ronaldo's performance in the match, Juventus boss, Allegri said, "I don't think this is the first time that Ronaldo misses a penalty in his career. The most important thing is that the team won the game at the end."
He added: "He (Ronaldo) wanted to score and in the second half technically played much better.
"In the first half, he was rushing too much to find the net. In the second part of the match, when he played easier football, he had two or three good goal occasions."