Despite being crowned the world’s best player by FIFA, Cristiano Ronaldo went into El Clasico needing to prove a point.
Not only did his Real Madrid side trail Barcelona by 11 points but his four goals in 11 league matches is poor by his standards - especially when Lionel Messi has already notched 14 in 16 matches.
There was very little doubt that Madrid needed to win the league’s first Clasico at the Bernabeu to keep their title dreams alive and that was evident in the start Zinedine Zidane’s side made.
They were on the front foot and looked bright during a fairly cagey opening 45 minutes.
Ronaldo himself thought he had given the home side an early lead but he was offside when he headed home from a corner.
But just a few minutes later, he was given a glorious opportunity.
The ball was pulled back to him in the penalty area by Toni Kross with Ronaldo totally unmarked 12 yards out. However, as he swung with his left foot, he completely missed the ball, nutmegging himself in the process.
WATCH: RONALDO'S MISS
Take a look:
— Diego Montalvan (@DMontalvan) December 23, 2017
Oh, how embarrassing.
The Portuguese superstar only returned to full training earlier this week after a calf injury he sustained in the Club World Cup victory against Gremio.
And before the game, Ronaldo didn’t get his wish of receiving a guard of honour from their rivals.
After the Club World Cup triumph, Ronaldo called on Barca to give them a heroes welcome.
"It would be nice and I would like Barcelona to make for us the guard of honour,” he said.
Yeah, it was never going to happen, was it?