Ronaldo missed penalty, Real lost points against Malaga

CR7 just had an unsuccessful day when he missed the opportunity to increase the gap on the 11m mark, leading to the result that Real was held to a 1-1 draw by Malaga in round 25 of La Liga.

Ronaldo had both merit and fault in the draw. Photo: Reuters

Goals: Albentosa 67' - Ronaldo 33'

Cristiano Ronaldo's rare penalty miss came in the 36th minute, when Real were leading 1-0 thanks to a goal he had scored just three minutes earlier. Goalkeeper Carlos Kameni not only saved the penalty from last year's top scorer, but also gave Malaga hope. As the fans had hoped, the home team equalized in the 67th minute and secured a valuable point.

With the draw against Malaga, Real has almost "cut" their own foot in the race for the La Liga championship this season. Coach Zinedine Zidane's team currently has only 54 points after 25 matches, nine points behind the leading team Barca. If there is no miracle in the remaining 13 rounds, Real will hardly be able to close the gap equivalent to these three wins.

A big part of the reason why Real failed to dominate against Malaga could be due to the lack of two starting members of their front three. Gareth Bale has not recovered yet, and Karim Benzema has just suffered an injury, leaving Ronaldo isolated. The option of choosing Isco and James Rodriguez to support CR7 only solved the problem of ball control, but did not create a breakthrough.

However, the result of the match could have been very different if Ronaldo had successfully taken the penalty in the 36th minute. After earning the penalty with a decisive dribble in the penalty area, the former best player in the world suddenly shot with less precision, allowing goalkeeper Kameni to block.

Before the missed shot, Ronaldo also caused controversy when he scored the opening goal in the 33rd minute. In terms of aesthetics, this finish deserves to be considered a masterpiece with a reverse header from a distance of 10 meters. However, before putting the ball into the Malaga net, Ronaldo was in an offside position and was lucky not to be penalized by the referee.

Ronaldo could not extend his joy until the end of the match.

Unlike most of the other teams in the bottom half of La Liga, Malaga were extremely "tough" when facing Real. The home team even played much better in the early stages of the match, and had two chances to score. First, Juanpi's shot went straight into the reach of goalkeeper Navas, and then Horta's shot went into the side of the net. After goalkeeper Kameni saved the penalty, Malaga continued to cause trouble for Real's goal. If Navas and the crossbar had not accidentally saved the goal at the end of the first half, the home team would have leveled the score at 1-1 with a shot from Duje Cop.

Undaunted by an unlucky first half, Malaga continued to attack after the break and were rewarded. After avoiding another dangerous situation with a shot from Horta, Real were no longer favored by luck in the 67th minute. This time Welington crossed the ball from the left wing across Real's penalty area, allowing defender Albentosa to easily tap the ball in accurately to equalize.

It was only in the final minutes of the match that Real realised that things were no longer within their reach. Malaga had enough experience as a decent La Liga side to secure a draw. At the end of the match, goalkeeper Kameni continued to be excellent when he blocked James Rodriguez's volley, while Marcelo and Ronaldo both shot wide.

Malaga got a valuable point thanks to brave play.

With the draw against Malaga, former player Zidane has lost points for the second time as Real coach (winning all six remaining matches). This is an excellent achievement for a young coach but not enough to make progress, while the two competitors, Barca and Atletico Madrid, are both in stable form.

According to VNE