When the dust settled from Cristiano Ronaldo’s shocking red card on Wednesday, after Juventus secured the three points against Valencia with a 2-0 win, one question began to crop up in the minds of football fans around the globe: Will Ronaldo miss Man U games in the Champions League?
A blockbuster Champions League encounter between Italian champions Juventus and Valencia — fourth place finishers in LaLiga — descended into farce when Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off 29 minutes into his UCL debut with the Old Lady.
Ronaldo had been active and involved throughout the early proceedings, and Juventus really should’ve taken the lead through either Mario Mandzukic or Sami Khedira, but both put close range shots over the bar in the game’s opening period.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League debut with Juventus lasted all of 29 minutes at Valencia’s Mestalla stadium. With Juventus in possession of the ball out wide in Valencia’s third, Ronaldo made a run into the box before play was stopped with both Valencia and Juventus players remonstrating and gesticulating wildly.
After a short break, German referee Felix Brych consulted the official behind the goal, and he looked adamant that Ronaldo deserved to be sent off for his actions. Brych duly obliged while Ronaldo went hysterical.
We told you Tuesday was going to be great. We were right.
Perhaps the most anticipated match of the entire Champions League group stage helped kick things off as the UCL returned in earnest on Tuesday — and Liverpool vs. PSG more than lived up to expectations.
Tottenham is tired. How much of it is the World Cup? How much of it the complete lack of rejuvenation by way of transfers? How much of it is the media incessantly telling us that Tottenham’s tired (although Son Heung-min told us as much too)? How much of it is the dopey-looking faces of Harry Kane and Christian Eriksen? I just don’t know.
Italy is synonymous with soccer. They have always been one of the top-ranked teams in the world. The Italian national team has won the World Cup four times (tied with Germany for second, behind Brazil). They've been a team others have simultaneously envied and been afraid to play. A team that generated stars like Paolo Rossi, Roberto Baggio, Alessandro Del Piero. A team with grace, class and a wondrous reputation.
Maybe Douglas Costa doesn’t like sharing the spotlight with Cristiano Ronaldo? How else do you explain the shocking events that unfolded in the lead-up to the Douglas Costa red card on Sunday?
Ronaldo scored his first and second Juventus goals against Sassuolo on Sunday. The first was a simple tap-in but the second was pretty good.
It took Cristiano 322 minutes, more than three full matches, for the first Ronaldo Juventus goal to finally arrive. It took 15 more minutes for the second.
But that first one ... it was a bit of a dud, though that didn’t stop the Juventus fans (and Ronaldo himself) from celebrating like they had just clinched the league title.
Italy is famous for a few things. The country boasts some of the world’s most fascinating and important historical sites, high quality shopping and the best food. Like really, really amazing food. The cuisine is not only a reason for tourists to flock to Italy, but it also apparently has a major pull on top footballers who wish to ply their trade in the land of good eats. Just check out the Kevin Prince-Boateng pasta love.
Portugal defeated Italy 1-0 Monday at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon to go top of UEFA Nations League Group 3 while Italy crashed to the bottom of the three-team group with only one point from two matches. The Azzurri’s worrisome 1-1 draw with Poland in Bologna last Friday served to foreshadow the day’s events: Italy mustered only two shots on target while creating absolutely nothing of note.