Last night was a night to remember for Cristiano Ronaldo for all the wrong reasons. The Portuguese superstar was sent off in the 29th minute after German referee Felix Brych in consultation with his assistant determined that Ronaldo did enough to deserve a straight red card.
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Why was Ronaldo sent off?
Ronaldo got tangled with Valencia defender Jeison Murillo off the ball and the defender went down. The Portuguese forward didn’t like Murillo’s overly theatrical collapse and let him know by grabbing his hair/head (only slightly). The referee made a quick decision to show him a red card, leaving Ronaldo in utter disbelief. He was so distraught that he sat down on the ground with tears of anguish dripping down his face. The 33-year-old eventually stood up and kept shouting “I did nothing”, “I did nothing”. The tears eventually turned into ironic smiles as he walked off the pitch, where he was met by Juventus legend Pavel Nedved, who tried to calm him down.
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Juventus disagrees with Ronaldo red card
No one in Juventus’ camp agreed with the decision.
“I can only say that VAR would’ve helped the referee in this decision,”
“Going down to 10 men in the Champions League for an incident like that is disappointing.” – Allegri
“It’s very harsh. I think if you have seen the pictures, you’ll have seen that it’s incomprehensible,”
“I hope that they [UEFA’s disciplinary commission] will look at it and that they will have something positive for him because he doesn’t deserve that.” – Matuidi
“Murillo put his hands on Ronaldo first, he reacted but these things can happen…”
“Ronaldo was angry, of course. The referee saw what he saw – not very well – and we overcame the obstacles.” – Bonucci
It was Ronaldo’s first red card in 154 Champions League games. Juventus won the match 2-0 courtesy of two converted penalties by Miralem Pjanic.
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Ronaldo might miss return to Old Trafford
The visit to Valencia was supposed to be a homecoming for Ronaldo. It was his first game in Spain since leaving Real Madrid this summer and a game he eagerly anticipated. He even missed Portugal’s international break matches in order to better prepare for this contest. Unfortunately, his night was cut short by a dubious referee decision. His sister Katia Aveiro made her opinion known on Instagram:
“A football disgrace…justice will be done…they want to destroy my brother, but God never sleeps…disgraceful.”
Ronaldo will now miss the match against Young Boys and could miss out on Juventus’ visit to Old Trafford if the UEFA disciplinary board decides to extend his suspension to more than one game. The Portuguese have the right to appeal any additional ban.
