Lucky draws have pushed the Red Devils into a difficult position. Because, even when eliminated in the Champions League group stage, Barca is still a capable team, possessing many outstanding individuals in the squad. Even in the Champions League finals in the 2008/09 and 2010/11 seasons, the red half of Manchester lost their hearts to the Blaugrana.
More than anyone else, Cristiano Ronaldo understands how scary the Catalan giants are. After leaving Old Trafford, he arrived at Real Madrid and had countless encounters with Barca. Statistics from Transfermarkt show that the striker born in 1985 met Barca 34 times in his career up to now. However, his teams only won 10 matches, drew 9 matches and lost 15 matches.
CR7 often fades when he meets Barca
In terms of personal achievements, the former Real Madrid star has 20 goals, including 9 goals in La Liga, 5 goals in the King’s Cup and 4 goals in the Spanish Super Cup. Particularly in the Champions League, CR7 only had 2 shots against Barca . It was in December 2020, where he successfully took two penalties in Juventus’ 3-0 win.
Refined, annoying and causing a lot of inhibitions is all that Barca has brought to Cristiano Ronaldo. Transfermarkt’s data shows that CR7 has to receive up to 10 yellow cards in encounters with Blaugrana. The fact also shows that, in the early stages of the Portuguese player wearing the Manchester United shirt, the matches against Barca were like a nightmare.
Cristiano Ronaldo was silent in both the first and second legs of the Champions League semi-finals in the 2007/08 season. Entering the 2008/09 season, CR7 was also completely helpless against a sublime Barca at Olimpico. The mischief of Samuel Eto’o, the historic header that knocked out Edwin van der Sar by Lionel Messi overshadowed the name of Cristiano Ronaldo that day.
Not only CR7, but Manchester United also lost in each meeting with the Catalan club. The Red Devil’s baggage is just… 3 wins. In the 2018/19 season, the representative of the Premier League faced Barca in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. The end result was diαstrous when David de Gea and his teammates lost 0-4 after 2 matches.
Blaugrana encounters have never been easy for the Red Devils
At his peak, Cristiano Ronaldo was often stuck when he met Barca. Now, fans are wondering what will happen when he has stepped to the other side of the slope of his career. A 37-year-old “old man”, burdened with many responsibilities and facing many challenges, must now prepare to face the biggest challenge in his career.
Looking back, the position of Barca and Manchester United was very different from the previous meetings. Both are struggling to find the image of a big team. However, it can be affirmed that the Barca visit is a bad omen for the Red Devils, especially when looking at Manchester United’s not-so-good performance against the Spanish teams.
Right in the Europa League season 2020/21, the Red Devils were defeated by Villarreal in the final after a penalty shootout. Look no further, it was not being able to score more than 2 goals against Real Sociedad that pushed Manchester United into the play-off round against Barca. This will be a weighted test for CR7 , coach Erik ten Hag and the Manchester United collective.
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