A Night of Tears For Cristiano Ronaldo

The Portuguese striker, who made his first appearance in Champions League with Juventus, seems to have caught the hair of Valencia defender Jeison Murillo when fighting for the ball half way to the end of first half and referee Felix Brych consulted his assistant before showing the five-time Champions League winner a straight red card.



The Old Ladies of Turin pulled themselves together and took the lead from a well taken penalty kick by Miralem Pjanic and shortly after halftime, the Bosnian midfielder doubled Juve’s lead from the penalty spot.

Valencia won a penalty in stoppage time, but former Arsenal goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny denied Daniel Parejo to cruise home with a clean sheet.

#TearsForCR7



It was a sad return to Spain for Cristiano Ronaldo, who signed for Juventus from Real Madrid in the summer.

His influence in the game increased when his strike was blocked off by tumbling Murillo. Ronaldo gesticulated to Murillo to rise up and seemed to have pulled the defender with his hair before leaving the scene in frustration.

In the midst of the hostile atmosphere, the Valencia players clashed in the box, and the centre referee had a lengthy discussion with his assistant before he gave Ronaldo a matching order.



Ronaldo, the all time highest goal scorer in the history of Champions League was obviously angry, protesting against the referee’s decision, but eventually left the pitch in tears.

It was Ronaldo’s first red card in 154 appearances in the Champions League and is now facing at least one game ban.

Juventus won the Serie A for seven consecutive years and used all their experience to take down the strident Valencia fans and close the victory.

Manager Massimiliano Allegri snapped up Ronaldo to help make a big difference in Champions League, but they felt comfortable even without their record summer signing.

They should have taken a goal lead before Ronaldo was sent off and they eventually pulled one in through Pjanic's first penalty kick shortly before the break after Joao Cancelo was brought down in the box by Parejo.

In the second half, Leonard Bonucci was wrestled to the ground by Murillo and Pjanic converted from the spot for his second of the night.

Although Valencia got a penalty in injury, after Gabriel was fouled by Daniele Rugani and Szczesny saved Parejino's weak effort.

To this proof, the Italian champion seems to be playing a good football in another strong campaign after reaching the final final in 2016-17 season.

Their defense resistance is incomparable and has again shown its strange ability to achieve results.

After Ronaldo has served his match ban, he will place Juventus in a good position to win the Champions League that has eluded them for 22 years.

JUVENTUS RED CARD STATISTICS

- Juventus has a record of 26 red cards, at least seven more than other team in the competition

- In three Champions League matches, Juventus has been red carded three times for the second time in club’s history, from October 2000 and September 2001 (total of 5 reds).

- The last time they won their first Champions League game was against Manchester City, in 2015/2016 campaign, with a record of (D1 L1) in such two matches.

- After dominating nine home Champions League games (W6 D3), Valencia lost four of the last five, with 10 goals conceded.

Valencia will travel to Old Traffold to lock horns with Manchester United in their next Champions League game, Juventus to play host to Young Boys.