AP Images / YouTube, Pixar
- Cristiano Ronaldo has failed to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-final for just the second time in 12 years.
- And there may be a curse at play.
- A data cruncher on Twitter has suggested the "Toy Story" franchise is to blame, as the Portuguese striker comes up short whenever Pixar releases a new movie.
- The curse is eerily similar to the sports jinx that haunts Drake, who seemingly curses whichever team or athlete he lends his support to.
- Fortunately for Ronaldo and his team Juventus, there are currently no plans to release another "Toy Story" movie.
- Read all of Business Insider’s coverage for the 2018-2019 European Soccer season right here.
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There’s a wild theory going around that suggests Pixar Animated Studios could be to blame for Cristiano Ronaldo’s inability to reach the UEFA Champions League semi-final.
Pixar is renowned for its popular "Toy Story" franchise. One of its earliest lines from iconic character Buzz Lightyear, "to infinity and beyond," has become ingrained in modern pop culture.
But whenever Pixar releases a "Toy Story" movie, Ronaldo cannot get beyond the quarter-final stage, let alone to infinity.
Pixar released a "Toy Story" movie in 1995, 1999, 2010, and 2019. And, as Duncan Alexander, an Opta data cruncher says on Twitter, Ronaldo has reached the Champions League semi-final in every single year from 2007 onwards "except ones in which a Toy Story film has been released."
Ronaldo, of course, was dumped out of the Champions League in the quarter-final stage this season by a young but talented Ajax team.
Ronaldo scored in each game of the two-legged tie this month, but watched powerless as Juventus surrendered its advantage at home in Turin. Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt, two of Ajax’s brightest stars, scored critical goals and engineered an unlikely victory.
Read more: Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals don’t change the fact that his game remains in long-term decline
The only other year Ronaldo failed to reach the final four was in 2010 when he was playing for Real Madrid. Between February and March of that year, Real played Olympique Lyonnais twice but were knocked out having lost 2-1 on aggregate.
The Toy Story curse is eerily similar to the jinx that haunts the Canadian rapper Drake.
Drake has pledged support to the University of Kentucky and Toronto Rapters basketball teams, but neither side has enjoyed championship success since.
He even held the Irish flag aloft for Conor McGregor at a UFC weigh-in, just before the Irishman ended up losing to his lightweight rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
An Italian soccer club, AS Roma, jokingly tweeted that it has now banned its players from taking pictures with Drake because he’s so unlucky.
It is unlikely Juventus will be able to prevent Pixar from releasing more "Toy Story" movies in the future, but fortunately for them there are no plans, as of yet, for "Toy Story 5."
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See Also:
- Ajax just dumped Juventus out of Europe with its young and hungry kids, despite Cristiano Ronaldo’s early heroics
- Cristiano Ronaldo bought an ultra-rare Rolls Royce worth $360,000 — take a look
- Lionel Messi is 3 times more likely to lift the Champions League trophy this season than Cristiano Ronaldo
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Alan Dawson)