6 stars who failed in big matches

The measure of greatness is consistency. A player could have all the talent in the world, but it would mean nothing without consistency. Consistency is what sets apart the greats from the goods.Another key aspect that defines a great player is his ability to perform in big games. While there are many great players in this amazing sport, some of them failed to make any sort of impact in big games. Whether it be a Champions League crunch tie, a local derby. a game against title challengers or a cup final, these player’s can’t seem to get their act together in the games that matter.When the team and the fans expected the most from them, they failed to deliver, giving a performance that they would love to forget.And here are 6 such players who failed to deliver in games of huge significance:

#1 Cesc Fabregas

This is more time-oriented than anything else.

Cesc Fabregas is among the best midfielders in the world… for a certain time period. After signing him from Barcelona, Chelsea fans were ecstatic with his run of form at the beginning of the season.

While Diego Costa was the regular name on the scoresheet, the former Arsenal man was the brains behind those goals as he raked in assists after assists seamlessly.

And then came the patch which we’d like to call as the ‘Forgetful Fabregas’ period as he seems to forget how to play football during the months of February to June.

Unfortunately for both Cesc and the club that he plays/played for – be it Arsenal, Barcelona and now Chelsea – he loses his guile at the most crucial part of the season. February-June is the festive period of the Champions League; the knock-outs. And he almost always fails to deliver when it is needed the most.

It could be a mere coincidence that Barcelona won the Champions League the season just before his arrival and the season just after his departure while failing to win it in the three years that he was there, but it does say at least a little about the liability that he becomes at the crucial part of the season.

#2 Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has won almost everything there is to win at club level – except for the holiest trophies of them all: the Champions League.

In his last 14 seasons, he has won the League title 12 times, missing out on it only in 2002-2003, playing for Ajax, and 2011-12, playing for Milan. He is a magnet to League titles, so much that he could be called Mr. League.

However, he is somewhat of a repulsive force when it comes to the Champions League as the trophy has eluded him for his entire career – and it seems like he is never going to get a hold of it.

He has scored 43 goals in the Champions League – so calling him a choker in the Champions League could be deemed as a bit of a stretch. However, in the games that mattered the most – against Chelsea, Inter, Barca and Spurs among the ones from recent years – he couldn’t live up to the class that he possesses.

And he has to shoulder some blame for not having that accolade to his name.

#3 Karim Benzema

Karim Benzema is a star – among the biggest and brightest, yet doesn’t catch the eye as much as it should. He is underrated in almost every game Madrid have won in the last couple of seasons.

His subtlety in attack is what gives Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale the freedom to attack the goal. In almost every big game Real Madrid have played in the last couple of years, his intelligence was key to sealing those wins.

However, if Benzema was Superman, his Kryptonite has been Atletico Madrid. The former Lyon man has almost always struggled against the Blancos’ city rivals and his goals tally of 2 in 17 Derbi Madrilenos is a testament to that fact.

It is one of the biggest reason – and further proof to the aforementioned influence of his – for Real Madrid’s recent mishaps against Atletico Madrid, a team who couldn’t stand up to their richer neighbours for over a decade.

While Benzema can’t be blamed entirely for his team’s undoing, the attack becomes spineless when he doesn’t function at his best.

#4 Radamel Falcao

Once upon a time, Radamel Falcao was labelled as the best striker in the world. At that point of time, he was unstoppable. Defenders found it inscrutable to read his off-the-ball movements as he would sneak out from nowhere and score some of the finest goals one could see.

This wasn’t really a long time ago. During his time at Porto and Atleti, he wreaked havoc against almost every team that he played against. He also did well in big games – the final of the Copa del Rey against Real Madrid, where he played a superb assist to Diego Costa, comes to mind.

Also, in Atletico’s lost causes against their richer sisters, he scored the consolation goals on two occasions.

However, his lethal eye for goal took a huge hit since moving away from the Spanish capital. His time at Monaco ended abruptly after injuring his knee in January of 2014. Since then, he hasn’t been the same player.

A loan spell at United was supposed to rebuild his career, but it only helped in deteriorating it further as he couldn’t make the impact he would have liked. The Colombian found it hard to score against mid-table teams during his time in the Premiership – let alone in the bigger games.

The mistakes he made along the season particularly giving the ball away against Chelsea which allowed Eden Hazard to go on and score the winner was one that showed his new-found weakness against bigger teams.

To add to that he failed to score against any of the top 6 teams in the Premiership, his time at United is one he would love to forget.

#5 Edinson Cavani

Edinson Cavani is one of the most feared strikers in the world. Making himself known to the world with incredible performances for Palermo, Napoli moved quick to sign him for 17 million Euros.

He scored against the likes of Juventus, Roma and many others in Serie A. In his second season in the Champions League, he scored 3 goals against Manchester City over the course of 2 legs in group stages to help Napoli reach the next round.

He then wreaked havoc against Chelsea at Naples by scoring once and assisting twice in a 3-1 win against the Londoners. In the return leg, however, he went quiet and Napoli were eventually knocked out by the London club.

That was the first genuine big match in which he failed to impress. And the first of many more.

His performances in the Champions League for PSG have left a lot to be desired, although many would argue that he had been out of position in quite a few games.

He failed to make any impression in the games against Chelsea both this year and last year. Against Barcelona, he was almost anonymous and it was only his hairstyle that made the viewers aware of his presence.

Like his PSG teammate Cavani has failed to shine on the biggest European stage of all at club level whether it has been with or without Ibrahimovic on the pitch.

The same can be said for the Uruguayan playing with the national team. Though arguably his club predicament is carried over to the national side as Luis Suarez is not one to fade away which forces Cavani to play differently once again.

Although, despite the Barcelona forward’s ban forcing him out of Uruguay’s team for an extended period, Cavani has failed to seize his chance.

#6 Mesut Ozil

If there is one player who could be labelled as a big-game flop, it is Mesut Ozil.

The German has had the luck – or lack, therof, of playing some crucial games in his life. Be it the World Cup final or the semi-finals of the Champions League, and he has almost always disappointed.

Ask many Madrid fan about which Ozil-moment still gives her/him nightmares and the answer will be instantaneous: that one-on-one miss against Borussia Dortmund in the semi-final of the Champions League in the 2012-13 season.

That is one of the many blunders of big games that he has made in his career.

While Germany won the World Cup 2014 and Ozil started that game, he went unnoticed for long parts of the match and perhaps would have been criticized had Andre Schurrle and Mario Gotze not saved the day.

The Gunners have broken their trophy-famine after the arrival of the former Schalke player by winning two FA Cups on the bounce, but he didn’t have much of an impact in any of the two finals that he played in.

Finally, be it at Real Madrid or now at Arsenal, it has been a rare sight of seeing him perform against the stronger teams – a lacking that has left some Gooners frustrated.

There is no doubt, however, that he is a world-class player and can win games on his own when he is in the mood, but that scarcely happens in the big games.