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Former Barcelona midfielder and Ivory Coast legend Yaya Toure has disclosed how the Catalan giants dealt with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2009 UEFA Champions League finale. It was the second final Ronaldo was participating in, having won once before by defeating Chelsea.
Barcelona had a plan to stop him, a strategy shared by the then-manager Pep Guardiola. However, Yaya Toure along with his teammates Gerard Pique and also skipper Carles Puyol came up with another idea.
While speaking on the Obi One Podcast, Toure outlined how they had decided to jump on Ronaldo in order to unsettle his focus. The Portuguese star was at his peak in 2009, just before he made a switch from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
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He was swift with both his feet and was a sharp header of the ball too, having scored the same in the UEFA Champions League final against Chelsea. Toure revealed (via Legit):
"So I said to Pique, ‘Here’s what we’ll do. If he gets past, I’ll jump on him. You cover the other side.’ I also told Busquets to challenge him in the air, and I’d follow him wherever he went with the ball."
He added to the same:
"That’s how we managed to control him. We came up with the strategy ourselves, right there on the pitch."
Thus, by frustrating Cristiano Ronaldo, Barcelona succeeded in keeping him quiet. Furthermore, they went on to win that game by 2-0. Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o and Argentine World Cup winner Lionel Messi got themselves on the scoresheet.
Barcelona only side Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't beat in UCL final
Cristiano Ronaldo has played six UEFA Champions League finals till date. In the process, he has won five and lost only once. The five victories came during his stints with Manchester United (1) and Real Madrid (4).
The Portuguese was also the first player to win five Champions League titles and also the first to lift the trophy on three successive occasions. His first title came back in 2008, when United defeated Chelsea. He had scored during regulation time but missed his shot during the tie-breaker.
The next title came after six years when in 2014 he won it with Real Madrid. After extra-time, the scoreline read 4-1 in favor of Los Blancos. This time too, Ronaldo had his name on the scoresheet. From 2016 to 2018, he won it three times in a row.
In 2016, in what was a replay of the 2014 finale, Real Madrid won the fixture 5-3 on penalties against Atletico Madrid. The next edition saw them face Juventus in the ultimate clash, a fixture where Cristiano Ronaldo netted a brace and his team won 4-1.
Finally in 2018, the Portuguese star won it again. However, this time he was not among the scorers. He did not score in the finals on three occasions - against Barcelona (2009), Atletico Madrid (2016) and Liverpool (2018).
