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On Wednesday night, Real Madrid’s star attacker Ronaldo returns to enemy territories as he visits the Anfield Arena, a place he is familiar with from his Manchester United days. The 29-year-old was involved in some intense encounters with the Merseysiders as a Red Devil and now he returns to the Reds’ playground for the first time in Madrid’s colors.With 19 goals in 12 games until now this season, Ronaldo has been scoring at an astonishing rate and as usual, everyone expects him to score in this fixture. And since joining Madrid, the Portuguese has stacked up incredible figures to his name. He has scored 271 goals in 258 appearances since signing for Madrid from Manchester United in 2009, and a total of 394 club goals in 581 career games. But out of all those figures, has Liverpool really been a favourite target for the former United winger?Here are 5 clubs against whom Ronaldo has least enjoyed playing.
#5 Benfica
Matches – 4
Goals scored – 0
Ronaldo’s club career started back in Portugal itself where he came up through the youth ranks of Sporting Lisbon. It was from here that Sir Alex Ferguson discovered the boy from Madeira. And during his time in Sporting and also with United in the Champions League, the 29-year-old came up against Benfica on four occasions but failed to net even a single goal against the Eagles.
A lot has changed since the last time he played the Portuguese giants, and Ronaldo can certainly change those stats in his favour but until then, Benfica can boast to be one of the sides that Ronaldo hasn’t scored against.
#4 Espanyol
Matches – 10
Goals scored – 4
Espanyol are one of the handful Spanish sides against whom Ronaldo has a pale record when compared to the other sides he plays against in the La Liga. The Catalunya rivals of Barcelona have allowed the Ballon d’Or holder to score on 4 occasions against them in a total of 10 encounters.
Contrastingly, the Real Madrid attacker has enjoyed a better record against their superior rivals Barcelona as he has netted 13 goals in 24 games he has played against them.
#3 Blackburn
Matches – 12
Goals scored – 3
They don’t play in the top tier of English football any longer but Blackburn can boast to be one of the Premier League sides against whom Ronaldo has struggled. During his Manchester days, the Portuguese faced the Riversiders 12 times but managed to find the back of the net only on three instances.
#2 Liverpool
Matches – 9
Goals scored – 2
Currently, he and Lionel Messi are tied at 2nd place in the race to break Raul’s all-time scoring record in the Champions League. They both have 69 goals in the competition and are 2 away from overtaking the former Blancos striker. And many are backing the Portuguese to do it in the game against Liverpool.
But dating back to his Old Trafford days, Ronaldo had developed a reputation of not performing in the big games. And against United’s biggest league rivals Liverpool, the Portuguese has registered only twice in six seasons against the Reds. Moreover, in nine games he has played against them, he has never scored at the Anfield Arena. Maybe this average outing against the Merseyside outfit has caused critics to label him as an underperformer in big games.
Since 2007, Ronaldo has come a long way and as he takes on his old rivals tonight, he will be looking to better his individual stats against Brendon Rodgers’ men.
#1 Chelsea
Matches – 15
Goals scored – 1
One of the few criticisms that Lionel Messi has constantly faced in his career is the fact that he has never scored against Chelsea. The Barcelona forward has failed to register even once against the Premier League outfit.
However, when it comes to his adversary Ronaldo, one shouldn’t forget that even he too has a disappointing record against the club from Stamford Bridge. The Portuguese has scored only once in a total of 15 meetings as he has found the Blues to be a difficult opposition.
Having said that, it is also worth noting that his solo strike came in the final of the Champions League in 2008 which was one of the biggest games of his career.
