Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus crash out of the Champions League early, raising questions of what next
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Juventus crashed out of the round of 16 of the Champions League on away goals as Porto scored an extra away goal. Federico Chiesa’s brace and Adrian Rabiot’s late winner saw Juventus level with Porto on aggregate, but the much disputed away goal rule meant that Porto qualified. Cristiano Ronaldo had a night to forget as he couldn’t channel his usual energy whenever his team needed him.
Juventus let down by Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance against Porto
Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by Juventus as he was a match-winner and Juventus sorely needed a person to inspire them. Ronaldo had the credentials as evidenced by his performances against Bayer Leverkusen, Bayern Munich, VfL Wolfsburg for Real Madrid. When Juventus were playing Atletico Madrid in the 2018/19 season in the Champions League and trailing by 2 goals, it was Ronaldo they turned to. He delivered in due fashion as he scored a hat-trick to demolish Atletico Madrid in the second leg.
Much was expected of him against Porto as Juventus needed to score 1 goal while keeping a clean sheet in order to progress to the next round. A goal and a clean sheet would have seen Juventus qualify through the away goal rule, but the things that happened was far from it. Porto midfielder Sergio Oliveira opened the scoring for Porto, which meant that Juventus had to score 3 more goals in order to qualify for the next round.
Federico Chiesa scored a brace and equalized the tie and forced the match to go into extra-time. It was here where Porto struck a hammer blow in the 115th minute, as a free-kick in a dangerous position saw Sergio Oliveira score again. Adrian Rabiot struck back in 2 minutes, but it wasn’t enough as Juventus crashed out on away goals.
Cristiano Ronaldo got an assist, but people will blame him for Porto scoring a second goal as his back was turned to Sergio Oliveira. The latter used it to his benefit as Ronaldo couldn’t react quickly to the low free-kick which eluded Wojciech Szczesny. Now a question has to be asked regarding his future and Juventus’s. Three seasons of football with him has seen Juventus crash out in the quarterfinals and Round of 16 twice in consecutive seasons.
Cristiano Ronaldo has a contract with Juventus until the end of the 2022 season and it will most likely be that he will see out his contract. There have also been reports that the club could look to offload him due to the massive wages he commands. At the end of this season, a decision will have to be made regarding the future as age catches up with Cristiano Ronaldo.
Also read: Erling Haaland breaks records on his way to scoring goals against Sevilla
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Rohan Aditya
(247 Articles Published)