Wednesday saw Portuguese ace Cristiano Ronaldo walk into his first Champions League game for his new club Juventus.
The 33-year-old moved away from Real Madrid in a famous £99 million switch to the Italian side.
While Lionel Messi opened his side’s Champions League group stages with pomp and a record for the most hat-tricks in the elite competition, his Portuguese counterpart did not have a similar start.
Messi went into the game tied with Cristiano Ronaldo in Champions League hat-tricks: each having scored seven. The Argentine is now ahead of the Portuguese in the feat and has now scored 48 hat-tricks in all competitions.
The Argentine now has 104 goals to his name in the competition. He has also scored 14 consecutive goals in the Champions League campaign, putting him alongside Real Madrid legend Raul in a joint record.
Ronaldo’s first Champions League game as a Bianconeri player, on the other hand, made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. During the game against Valencia, which saw the Italian giants win 2-0, the talisman was sent off by the referee only after 29 minutes.
The Portuguese appeared to have been involved in a challenge that did not look like much to fans: the 33-year-old appeared to knock Valencia’s Jeison Murillo to the ground off the ball, after which the referee, Felix Brych, showed a straight red card.
Ronaldo appeared to be in tears after the referee gave him his marching orders.
The former Real Madrid man won three Champions League finals in a row with the Spanish side. He also broke individual records during his time at the Bernabeu, becoming the Champions League’s all-time top scorer while also being the first man to break 100 goals in the competition.
As a result of the red card, Ronaldo could face a three-game suspension, which would see him miss group stage games against former side Manchester United and the BSC Young Boys.
Twitter has since exploded with reactions to the decision:
This is not worthy of a red card. I’m in shock! @IFTVofficial @ESPNFC @Gelo717 @juventusfc @TheCalcioGuy @Cristiano @ChampionsLeague @Adz77 pic.twitter.com/7TIln6h5r3
— Anthony F (@bx_juventino) September 19, 2018
https://twitter.com/Pierro16/status/1042502834623848448
Source : Sportskeeda
