Cristiano Ronaldo seemed to be back to his best after scoring a double last week but that all came crashing down due to a red card in his first Champions League match.
Ronaldo’s first match in the competition for his new club lasted less than half an hour on Wednesday as he was sent off after appearing to pull at an opponent’s hair.
Whilst Juventus still went on to win 2-0 at Valencia, thanks to two penalties, Ronaldo was sent off in the 29th minute after tangling with Jeison Murillo.
After Murillo went down inside the area, the Portugal forward gestured for his opponent to get up, then put his hand on the Valencia defender’s head and appeared to tug his hair. Referee Felix Brych showed Ronaldo a straight red card after discussing with his assistant behind the goal.
Ronaldo looked baffled and kept professing his innocence and was clearly distraught as he left the pitch in tears, still shaking his head.
Juventus fans were left fuming with some taking to Twitter to vent.
“It’s such a shameful and disgusting decision by Spanish referee on @Cristiano Spanish referee’s always suck” said one fan.
Another said, “Have seen that about 100times and that’s not a red card offense. Just a heated moment between two players. My opinion. It’s not a red card”.
After the match, Bonucci disagreed with the referee’s decision, and confirmed Ronaldo’s dismay over the situation, though the defender praised his team for their resiliency.
“As far as I could see, it was a pretty normal clash,” Bonucci told Sky Italia. “Murillo put his hands on Ronaldo first, he reacted, but these things can happen and we must be stronger than everyone and everything.
Juventus manager Allegri indicated he did not think Ronaldo’s actions merited a red card, stating his belief that VAR, which is used in Serie A but not in the Champions League, would have saved his star the early shower.
“I can only say that VAR would’ve helped the referee in this decision,” Allegri said. “Going down to 10 men in the Champions League for an incident like that is disappointing.”
