With Mario Balotelli recently aiming a jab at Zlatan Ibrahimovic for not being able to win the UEFA Champions League, here are four legends of the beautiful game who failed to lift European club football's biggest prize.
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The duo spent two years playing alongside one another at Inter Milan, and in a recent interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, the enigmatic Swede revealed he thought the Italian did not live up to the expectations placed upon him during his formative years. The 32-year-old simply rebutted the Scandinavian's statement by posting a picture on Instagram in which he is holding the UCL trophy, tagging his former teammate in the process.
As a result, we thought we would have a look at some icons of the game for whom the Champions League proved too elusive.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The sensational Swede recently called time on an illustrious career that saw play for many of Europe's biggest clubs, scoring 496 goals and winning a plethora of trophies. None of those titles, however, came on the continent's biggest stage. The attacker netted 48 times during his various seasons plying his trade in the UCL, but unfortunately for him, the furthest he was able to get was the semi-final stage in 2010 with Barcelona. Coincidentally, the Nerazzurri would go on to win that iteration of the competition, a squad Balotelli was a part of.
Gianluigi Buffon
The legendary shot-stopper won almost every other club competition he participated in, except for the Champions League. The Italian goalkeeper first debuted in the tournament in the 1997/98 campaign with Parma, and would establish himself as one of the all-time greats after he secured a record-breaking move to Juventus in 2001. The Carrara native reached three UCL finals with the Bianconeri, in 2003, 2015 and 2017, but none of them yielded any success as defeats to AC Milan, Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively, ensured that his trophy cabinet would be left without the prized trophy.
Fabio Cannavaro
Another legendary Italian who did not lift Europe's biggest prize was centre-back Fabio Cannavaro. The last defender to win the Ballon d'Or, his presence never led either Parma, Inter, Real or Juve to European glory. He reached the Champions League semi-finals with Inter in 2002/03, but never got any further than that. He did, however, lead Italy to a FIFA World Cup triumph in 2006, with Buffon, which is likely the crowning moment of his career.
Ronaldo Nazario
From one Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Cup winner to another, clinical Brazilian legend Ronaldo is another player who never managed to capture the UCL trophy. The youngest-ever Golden Ball winner in history at 21, the Rio de Janeiro-born attacker looked destined to capture all the titles of the beautiful game, but persistent knee injuries deterred him from reaching his zenith.
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Despite the chronic knee issues, though, the 99-cap Brazil international did provide some memorable moments in the tournament, most notably a hat-trick at Old Trafford that earned him a standing ovation from the Manchester United faithful. That 2002/03 season would be the closest he got to playing in a final, with his Los Blancos team being knocked out by Juve in the final four.
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