5 heaviest league defeats of Cristiano Ronaldo's career

Cristiano Ronaldo is undoubtedly one of the greatest footballers, if not the greatest, to ever grace the sport.

However, like any other player, he has endured rough outings individually and as part of the collective. This includes being on the wrong end of some unflattering defeats against teams that are simply better on the day.

The Portuguese captain has scored a ton of goals against most teams in the world and owns several goalscoring records to go with more than 30 career titles. However, he has gone missing in some matches, which have played a part in his team getting absolutely battered by the oppositions over the years.

On that note, let's take a look at five of the heaviest league defeats Cristiano Ronaldo has suffered over the course of his storied career.

#5 Brentford 4-0 Manchester United (2022)

There is no better place to start off this list than Manchester United's 4-0 battering by Brentford on Matchday 2 of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign.

The Red Devils had an awful outing at the Brentford Community Stadium and Cristiano Ronaldo cut a miserable figure up-front. He was starved of service and seemed helpless as Erik ten Hag's men suffered their second consecutive defeat to kick off the season.

The lack of a central defensive midfielder and a commanding backline, coupled with Brentford's ability to expose their flaws, led to an utterly humiliating result. Cristiano Ronaldo could do very little to change the game and many of his teammates were error-prone, lackluster and simply terrible on the day.

All in all, it was a day to forget for the centre-forward and things could get worse when Manchester United take on Liverpool next week.

#4 Atletico Madrid 4-0 Real Madrid (2015)

Cristiano Ronaldo is the most prolific scorer in domestic football against Atletico Madrid, having bagged 25 goals against Diego Simeone's men.

Although a major chunk of those strikes came in European competitions, the Portuguese international delivered in La Liga as well. Hence, Simeone & Co. sprung a real surprise by defeating Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid 4-0 in 2015.

This was rather uncharacteristic from Atletico as they are renowned for their ability to frustrate teams and nick a result by scoring a goal or two. However, in February 2015, Tiago Mendes, Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann and Mario Mandzukic all found the back of the net against their city rivals.

Los Blancos were sub-par that day at the Vicente Calderon. Their midfield, containing a declining Sami Khedira and a less-than impressive Isco, was overrun by a rampant Atletico outfit.

Even Cristiano Ronaldo, who often turned up for the club in key moments, did not have the answers that day. He brought nothing to the pitch apart from a few frustrated hand gestures as Atletico ran riot and put a major dent in Real Madrid's title hopes.

The defeat was met with harsh criticism but Los Blancos extracted revenge by beating Atletico in the UEFA Champions League final 15 months later. Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winning penalty in the shootout on that occasion.

#3 Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 Manchester United (2022)

Brighton & Hove Albion have seemingly got Manchester United's number in 2022. They have already defeated them twice this year with an aggregate score of 6-1.

The Seagulls' 2-1 victory at Old Trafford on the opening weekend of the 2022-23 Premier League campaign was a bitter pill to swallow for the hosts. However, Brighton's 4-0 win at the AMEX Stadium in May was even worse and acted as the final nail in the coffin after a poor 2021-22 season.

Cristiano Ronaldo played only 37 minutes in the match at Old Trafford, with the Red Devils showing signs of improvement with him on the pitch. However, he was simply anonymous in the away encounter despite playing the entire 90 minutes.

Graham Potter's men ripped United apart to shreds as Moises Caicedo, Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard scored. It was a deserved result, with Brighton operating with a recognized system that suited their players. United, meanwhile, were simply awful and had no real gameplan.

#2 Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid (2010)

Barcelona have been Real Madrid's fiercest rivals for a long time. The fixture began grabbing even more eyeballs once Lionel Messi & Cristiano Ronaldo began competing against each other in those matches.

But Los Blancos were never as formidable in La Liga as the Catalan side, with the latter often coming out on top in league games. An early taste of the same for Cristiano Ronaldo was when Barcelona thrashed Real Madrid 5-0 at the Nou Camp in November 2010.

Although Messi failed to score in this fixture, he was instrumental in the game, picking up two assists and winning a number of fouls. Xavi Hernandez, Pedro, David Villa (two) and Jeffren Bermudez racked up the goals.

Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, cut an exasperated figure as the lone attacking threat up-front and often lost possession. The Portuguese legend notably ended up winning the Pichichi award that season with 40 goals but could not steer his side to the league trophy.

#1 Manchester United 5-0 vs Liverpool (2021)

Cristiano Ronaldo's return to Old Trafford last season was met with a lot of hype & pomp and understandably so. He gave his all to Manchester United during his primivite years and returned as a legend in a bid to get the club back to the top of European football.

However, things unraveled in quite the opposite direction and continue to do so with the player now reportedly vying to move away this season. The roots of the issue became clear to the centre-forward early last season itself.

United suffered a 5-0 defeat to Liverpool at Old Trafford in October 2021, which provided a perfect indication of the gulf in class between the two teams. Although many did predict that Liverpool would run away with the game, the manner of the loss was quite humiliating to say the least.

Mohamed Salah scored a hat-trick after Naby Keita and Diogo Jota made it 2-0 in the first 15 minutes of the game. Ronaldo notably managed to score a consolation goal, only for it to be ruled out as an offside.

The Portuguese international's general desperation and annoyance was also evident from his scuffle with youngster Curtis Jones in the first half.

The Manchester United defense was at fault throughout the night while Paul Pogba's red card did not help change things either. All in all, Cristiano Ronaldo's shoulders never dropped lower than they did on that unfortunate night in Manchester.