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The Portuguese winger was completely let down by Ferguson’s horrible tactics and the whole team’s poor spirit right from the start of the game.
Ronaldo showed how determined he was to win in the final with some excellent cracks on goals, but when the team is not behind you, performing in a mesmerizing way is almost an impossible task, especially against a Barcelona side who knows how to win games.
Even Lionel Messi was nowhere to find in the first minutes of the game when Barcelona were dominated by Cristiano Ronaldo’s Manchester United. Apart from his header which rounded off the score line, the Argentine Superstar was not the man at the centre of attraction on the field; Iniesta, Carlos Puyol and even Yaya Toure were better players on the night, as they prevented Manchester United’s midfielders and forwards to connect to the ball.
But Anti-Ronaldo supporters will close their eyes on that and hail Lionel Messi as the winner of the so-called duel and the World’s Best Player. The truth, in fact, is that the world wanted to get rid of Cristiano Ronaldo ever since he won all the individual titles and honors.
But we need to be clear on the fact that Lionel Messi’s goal in the final has definitely put him above Cristiano Ronaldo this term. The Portuguese winger fired four important goals for Manchester United in the knock-out stages of the competition and the Red Devils wonderfully reached the final with no disturbances among football fans.
But think about Lionel Messi’s Barcelona. The Catalans may be praised for their ability to crush and disgrace big sides like Bayern Munich and Lyon. But was it the case against English side Chelsea in the semifinals? Absolutely not! Lionel Messi’s game was completely ruptured by Guus Hiddink’s impressive tactics for Chelsea’s defenders in the semifinals.
If justice was a notion that ruled in soccer, Barcelona wouldn’t have been in the final. How can three clear penalties be denied in a space of 90 minutes?
And then Barcelona’s moment finally arrives – after the referee on the day Tom Henning Ovrebo – plays with them as a twelfth man: Iniesta fires an equalizer in the top corner of Chelsea’s net to send the Catalans through to the final.
Barcelona stole their place in the finals, it’s simple as that to understand. Unless you are a coward big cheat, you would not understand this fact. So would have Messi been a finalist? Obviously not! On the contrary, Cristiano Ronaldo was awesome in the semis against Arsenal, scoring two super goals to help Manchester United reach the final of the Champions League.
So a deserved place in the final for Portugal’s wonderful Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, while justice would have seen Messi fly back to Spain empty handed with the entire Barcelona squad. Then it would have depended on what would have happened between Manchester United and Chelsea in the final.
Who knows? The Red Champions might have tortured Chelsea once again and this would have given a clear reason as to why Ronaldo must win the Fifa Player of the Year award once again.
One thing I’d love to ask is this: Messi was supposed to crush out in the Champions League semifinals, so why on earth would people hail him as a treble winner who eventually deserves all the accolades? The so-called final duel should even have existed because Lionel Messi shouldn’t have been a finalist.
They say the Champions League final in Rome was the defining moment to separate the best player in the world from the second best. I say it was a not-to-happen duel because Messi and Barcelona weren’t worthy finalists.
Cristiano Ronaldo is simply the best. You can play around on the field with the strength of a warrior but if you are not able to the European Cup in a fair manner, the real champion is the other man, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Written by: Angela Asante
But last night’s defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final was a black day in Cristiano Ronaldo’s entire career as a footballer.
“This is one of the biggest disappointments of my career,” said Ronaldo. “We were always confident before the game but unfortunately we couldn’t do it.”
Indeed, Manchester United didn’t show up their real face and it seemed like Barcelona had killed off their spirit of champions even before the match.
“It is always bad when you lose a final,” said Ronaldo.
“But we didn’t play well. We did okay in the first 10 minutes but you have to say Barcelona deserved to win.”
Ronaldo seemed to single out Manchester United’s coach Sir Alex Ferguson as the main man behind the team’s defeat.
“Everything went wrong,” Ronaldo said. “We started well in the game but after we didn’t do nothing. We didn’t control the game and we lost. I think Barcelona played better than us and they deserved to win.”
“Everyone expects Manchester to do something in the game and it didn’t happen,” Ronaldo said. “(We) didn’t play fantastic, (we) didn’t control the game, we didn’t do the right thing, we lost goals and that’s what’s happened tonight.”
With Messi rounding off the victory for Barcelona, it was inevitable that football fans around the world would chant songs portraying Lionel Messi as the winner of the duel against Ronaldo.
But the reigning World Player of the Year came up in disagreement of this obvious opinion.
“No, the game was between Manchester and Barcelona, it wasn’t a duel between anyone in particular.”
Either way, Messi’s header and 38th goal of the season will certainly land the Argentine forward all the major individual awards this year. But Ronaldo prefers to concentrate on the future:
“I’m sure I’m going to play more finals,”
Indeed, Ronaldo might reach many more finals in his club career… but with which team? Manchester United, really?
Cristiano Ronaldo’s heart, mind, and soul were filled with disappointment, anguish, confusion, and anger at Manchester United’s defeat against Barcelona on Wednesday night in Rome. And when the questioned about whether he’ll be at Old Trafford next season, Ronaldo simply said these three words:
“I don’t know.”
Only three words, yes, but they are of a great importance. The man who vowed to remain at Old Trafford for many years to come is now eying an exit. His belief in the club may be gone; Ronaldo may be in a situation where he wants to choose the best place for him to be successful.
Can Real Madrid help him fulfill his wish of being a winner always? Either way, Ronaldo switching to Madrid in search of success will portray the Portuguese Superstar as a bad looser whose heart has no love but the desire to be a winner.
Barcelona started the game on a bad note with Valdez showing signs of nervousness at the back. For exactly ten minutes, the Red Devils were threatening with constant attacks. Ronaldo struck an excellent free-kick from 30 yards which almost caught Barcelona’s goalkeeper Victor Valdez. Positioned as a striker on the pitch, the World Player of the Year managed to have some good cracks on goal.
With six minutes gone down the clock, Ronaldo tried his luck again with a long range effort quite similar to his wonder strike against FC Porto. But the ball flew wide, allowing Victor Valdez to breathe at last. The Portuguese winger also gave another scare to the Blaugrana with a low shot from inside the 18-yard box. But the unlucky ace’s ball just couldn’t roll across the line.
But the devastating moment soon came when Manchester United were caught on the counterattack led by Barcelona’s Iniesta. Eto’o was there to punish the Red Devils and give Barcelona the lead after just ten minutes, squeezing the ball past Van der Sar and ultimately into the net.
From there, Manchester United were only chasing shadows. The Red Devils – dressed in an all-white kit on the night – just weren’t able to show up their real character of champions.
Manchester United’s midfield were brushed away by Barcelona’s men, which came as a huge blow to Ronaldo upfront who was looking for balls. Barcelona had won the war of possession; Manchester United’s spirits were down.
Ronaldo got few chances though, but his strength in the air was overpowered by Carlos Puyol might. Either his headers will go wide, or he won’t succeed in connecting the crosses.
At a point in the first half, Manchester United were just about to equalize when Ronaldo blinded Barcelona’s defense as he broke through. However, his terrific run was eventually stopped by Gerard Pique and the former Manchester United defender received a worthy yellow card.
But then in all, Manchester United never posed any serious threat of pulling a goal back. It seemed like they had no fire in their bellies, no tonic in the pot.
And then, the devastating moment: Cristiano Ronaldo’s challenger, Lionel Messi, raised high above everyone to complete a cross by Xavi from the right wing with an awesome header. The ball flew high and hard, beating Van der Sar in the process. At 2-0, the Red Devils had been deeply wounded and completely devastated.
Ronaldo struggled to contain his frustration at losing in what he branded as the biggest game of the season. He became harsh on the ball and was guilty of bad tackles against Puyol especially. Ronaldo finally received a deserved yellow card. The Portuguese Star winger knew his dream of making history with Manchester United had come to an end.
The final whistle wasn’t far away though, meaning that Manchester United had been defeated by Barcelona in the final of the Champions League in Rome.
Cristiano Ronaldo stayed on the pitch like the rest of the players, waiting for his medal. A face of disgust and sorrow painted with boldness and the desire to come back stronger… this is what Ronaldo showed as the atmosphere was filled with grief on one side, and joyfulness on another.
This is a behavior from Cristiano Ronaldo that will comfort his grieving fans. The 24-year-old is no more the little chap that used to burst in tears in dejecting moments. He is now the man that will rise up after being brought down, with inner tears making him stronger.
Unfortunately, no goals to talk about for Ronaldo, nothing for Manchester United either. It is surely over for the reigning World Player of the Year. Messi certainly will come next as the king of the world.
But bad moments in life can also make you stronger. Ronaldo might be back next season!