United rue Ronaldo’s missed penalty
24th April, 2008
Manchester United were left rueing a missed penalty last night after a 0-0 draw in Barcelona. The first leg of the Champions League semi-final at the Camp Nou was dominated by the home side who failed to capitalise.
The English champions will be happy with a draw after their poor performance, but will feel that they should have scored at least one after Ronaldo missed a second-minute penalty, and had another big claim turned down. The penalty was given for a handball in the box when Gabriel Milito threw his hands up and blocked Ronaldo’s goal-bound header. Many would have put their houses on Ronaldo scoring from the spot, but he changed his technique and hit the outside of the right-hand post.
United had just 27.2% and one shot on target, statistics that Ferguson will have to seriously look into before Saturday’s crucial tie against Chelsea in the Premier League, and the return leg of the semi-final. Despite having so much of the ball and putting together some majestic moves, Barcelona created relatively little but should be fairly confident of getting a result next week.
The Red Devils are still favourites to win the competition after both first legs at 7/4 with BetterBet, Chelsea are around 2/1, Barca are best odds of 10/3 and Liverpool are available at 11/2.
To find the best Champions League odds, use our odds comparison service. You can compare odds on matches, goalscorers, scorecasts and much, much more.
By Chris M
