Ronaldo is one of the most prolific goal scorers ever in the history of the game and the way he constantly keeps finding the back of the net is astounding. A small portion of those goals come 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 he is still a human.
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 goalbound header struck Diego Milito’s arm. But the Portuguese superstar‘s attempt went horribly wrong. Ronaldo blasted his kick wide of Valdes’s left-hand post and the away fans were left stunned to see that he was unable to hit the target from 12 yards.
During UEFA 2016, Ronaldo blew the chance to collect all three points against Austria when the 31-year-old couldn’t convert a spot-kick which was awarded when Austria defender Martin Hinteregger fouled him inside the box. His attempt hit the left-hand post and that was Ronaldo’s fourth miss in his last five penalties for club and country.
In a match vs Valencia during La Liga 2014-15, the then Real Madrid player was handed a lifeline just before the half time break when Gareth Bale was brought down inside the box. However, the Valencia goalkeeper, Diego Alves got the better of the Ronaldo as he saved the Real Madrid talisman’s spot-kick and he also failed to score from the rebound.
In a Champions League match between Manchester United and Chelsea in 2008-09, Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up to take United’s 3rd penalty. The Portuguese superstar was United’s top scorer that season with 42 goals in all competitions but ironically, he missed his spot-kick. Ronaldo stuttered in his run-up and struck his shot to the right of Petr Cech in the Chelsea goal, who guessed the right way and saved Ronaldo’s attempt.
A few of these misses came at crucial moments and cost him a few wins.
