The fact of being eliminated in the knockout stages of the Champions League usually brings retaliation from the public and the media for the great powers of Europe. First, it was Paris Saint Germain's turn with their stumble with Real Madrid and now Manchester United continued as they fell to Atletico Madrid by the minimum. While Cristiano Ronaldo was expected to have a greater presence in the process of the match, Red Devils fans never imagined that the Portuguese would retire from the top continental tournament without being able to kick to the goal in the return match at Old Trafford.
The Portuguese will have his first season without a trophy in 17 years of career: the run of CR7 titles at the club level continued uninterrupted since 2005. With the fall against those led by Diego Simeone, the brand came to an end in his first year of the second cycle as a Manchester United footballer. But not only did Cristiano feel the blow on a continental level, but the Red Devils also ran out of trophies for the fifth consecutive season.
In addition, it is far from a guarantee that Manchester United will qualify for the Champions League next season, as they compete head-to-head with Arsenal, fourth in the Premier League, the last qualifying place for the Orejona, and the Gunners are one point ahead having played three games less.
Ronaldo, 37, reached the match against the Spanish team after scoring a hat-trick to beat Tottenham 3-2 last Saturday. But against Colchonero it was the third time he failed to kick to the goal in a Champions League match and the first opportunity since 2011, when he played for Real Madrid against Barcelona in that year's edition.
The English press did not spare Cristiano's performance and punished him with negative comments on the tapas that came out on Thursday morning. “Red and buried,” he titled the Daily Express. The name Renan Lodi, who scored the only goal of the match, was also used by the various newspapers to decorate the titles of the defeat that left CR7 without reaching the Champions League quarterfinals for the third time in a row.
“Cristiano Ronaldo failed to inspire Manchester United,” one of the newspapers pointed out to him, as a symbol of the stumbling block, while the future of the legend is anyone's guess in the middle of an irregular season.
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