Manchester United striker Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) holds his head as the match goes awry during the 2021-2022 UCL round of 16 second leg match against AT Madrid at Old Trafford, Manchester, England, on the 16th. Manchester = EPA
Atletico Madrid (AT Madrid) is a strong defender who dominated the Spanish La Liga and the European Football Confederation Champions League (UCL) with a strong defense. However, for Cristiano Ronaldo, who was called the ‘god of soccer’, he was only a welcome opponent. This is because, as a member of the local rival Real Madrid, he has met countless times in the league and UCL, and has shown great performances each time. Even after moving to Juventus, they met in the round of 16 in the 2018-2019 season and scored three goals only in the second leg and overturned the 0-2 defeat in the first leg, even when they moved teams and afflicted AT Madrid. Ronaldo’s career record against AT Madrid was 25 goals in 35 appearances, and in particular, he scored 7 goals in 10 matches in the UCL and never lost a tournament.
However, even Ronaldo like this could not resist time. At the age of 37, he moved to his former club Manchester United (Man Utd) and eventually collapsed against Att Madrid, whom he met again in the round of 16 tournament. Manchester United lost 1-0 to Henang Rosie in the 41st minute of the 2021-2022 UCL Round of 16 second leg match against AT Madrid at Old Trafford, Manchester, England on the 16th. With this, in addition to the 1-1 draw in the first leg held on the 24th of last month, they were eliminated from the round of 16 with a total score of 1-2.
Manchester United started the ‘AT Madrid killer’ Ronaldo in a desperate match where they were eliminated. Expectations were even higher as he improved his scoring sense again by scoring a hat-trick in the league match against Tottenham on the 13th.
Atletico Madrid defender Henang Rosie (centre) scores the winning goal during the 2021-2022 UCL round of 16 second leg match against AT Madrid at Old Trafford on the 16th in Manchester, England. Manchester = EPA
However, Ronaldo did not live up to this expectation. He was blocked by AT Madrid’s systematic defense and could not create any intimidating scenes throughout the game, and even after the middle of the second half, he became a factor that slowed the team’s attack speed under the burden of stamina. In the end, he ended the game without scoring a single shot that day. Ronaldo’s 0-shooting record in the UCL was only twice, in the group stage match against Panasinaikos, who played for Manchester United in 2003, and in the semi-final against FC Barcelona, with Real Madrid in 2011, making him the third player against the most confident team. played a humiliating game.
With that loss, Manchester United, who had already been eliminated from the FA Cup and League Cup, and had a slim chance of winning the league, was virtually confirmed as ‘irrelevant’ for the fifth season. Naturally, Ronaldo also ended the season empty-handed. It is the first time in 17 seasons since 2004-05 that Ronaldo, who had spent a long time of glory with Real Madrid and Juventus, ended the season without collecting a single trophy. In addition, last week’s Paris Saint-Germain team failed to advance to the quarterfinals with Lionel Messi (35), a rival, who lost to Real Madrid for two consecutive seasons, realizing the ‘menaldo era’ that is dying out.
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