Real Madrid vs Barcelona: Cristiano Ronaldo’s Goalless Curse To End In El Clasico?

Cristiano Ronaldo will face Barcelona in El Clasico for the second time under a Real Madrid jersey, and his fans will want to see him end his goalless curse against the Blaugrana.

CR9 is yet to deceive Barcelona’s goalkeeper Victor Valdes despite holding a few golden opportunities to do so in previous meetings.

The first time Cristiano Ronaldo missed a penalty kick in professional football was against the Catalans back in 2008. The former Manchester United play maker was given the chance to put the Red Devils on a bright start at the Camp Nou as his side were up against Barcelona during the semi-finals of the 2007/2008 UEFA Champions League season.

Manchester United were awarded a 2nd minute penalty which Cristiano Ronaldo took. But somehow, he terribly blew it wide. Cristiano Ronaldo would have scored his first goal in his first match against Barcelona in his career if he had converted his spot-kick.

An expression of agony captured the prolific goal scorer who had a bad game on that night.

He promised to rectify his mistake with a goal in the return leg which was played at Old Trafford. Although his frustration led in Manchester United preparing even more seriously ahead of the encounter that Paul Scholes’ volley eventually settled on a 1-0 aggregate score line, Cristiano Ronaldo couldn’t realize his wish.

Fortunately for the Portuguese star winger, Manchester United advanced onto the final where they beat Chelsea to lift the 2008 UEFA Champions League crown.

One year later, Manchester United and Cristiano Ronaldo reached their second consecutive European final and had to face Pep Guardiola’s transformed Barcelona side.

That match started off well for the Red Devils who were dressed in all-white on that day in Rome. Cristiano Ronaldo threatened Victor Valdes a couple of times and he was clearly the most dangerous player on the field during the first 10 minutes of the game.

But when Samuel Eto’o broke the deadlock at Manchester United’s surprise, everything turned Barcelona’s way. Cristiano Ronaldo and his team mates were left chasing shadows as the Blaugrana imposed their dominance. Rival Lionel Messi rounded up Barcelona’s victory by scoring a header in front of Cristiano Ronaldo’s eyes.

That encounter became Cristiano Ronaldo’s last for Manchester United. The superstar moved to Real Madrid afterward to play in La Liga and obviously have many more chances to face Barcelona.

In November 2009, Cristiano Ronaldo played in El Clasico for the first ever time. He had just returned from a two-month ankle injury and wasn’t even fit enough to last for the full 90 minutes.

Cristiano Ronaldo still managed to put up a great show despite being harshly mocked by the home crowd at the Camp Nou. Two good chances fell to him during the game but he unluckily couldn’t convert them. Ronaldo got substituted just after the hour mark and had to watch from the bench Real Madrid losing 1-0 to Barcelona.

On Saturday, Cristiano Ronaldo will be playing at the Santiago Bernabeu – Real Madrid’s fortress.

Real Madrid have actually won all of their matches at home in La Liga this season and they’ve scored as much as 50 goals on their soil.

Will Cristiano Ronaldo be inspired by Real Madrid’s strength at home to break his goalless curse against Barcelona in El Clasico on Saturday night?

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