Juventus were ‘BETRAYED by Cristiano Ronaldo’ during shock Champions League exit, claim Italian press… as papers lament ‘another disaster’ for the Serie A giants after Porto dumped them out at the last-16 stage yet again
- Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League by Porto on Tuesday night
- Italian media slammed Cristiano Ronaldo and his team-mates for their display
- Ronaldo has been accused of betraying Juve by turning his back on a Porto goal
- Wojciech Szczesny made a ‘decisive error’, according to Corriere dello Sport
- Gazzetta dello Sport called the result ‘another Champions League disaster’
Cristiano Ronaldo has been accused of betraying his Juventus team-mates by the Italian media after the Serie A giants were knocked out of the Champions League.
Andrea Pirlo’s men were dumped out at the last-16 stage by Porto on Tuesday night after a thrilling clash in Turin saw them win 3-2 on the night, but lose on away goals following a 4-4 aggregate score.
And Ronaldo, who turned his back on Sergio Oliveira’s decisive free-kick in extra-time, has been singled out for his role in Juventus’ shock early exit.
Corriere dello Sport used the headline ‘Betrayed by Ronaldo’ on Wednesday’s front page
Ronaldo turned his back in the wall as Sergio Oliveira scored a low free-kick in extra time
Ronaldo has his head in his hands after Juventus are dumped out of the Champions League
THIS IS TRULY INCREDIBLE!!!!
Sérgio Oliveira scores for 10-man Porto and the visitors are on the brink of going through!
WHAT. A. GAME! pic.twitter.com/PkUAlrfxd5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) March 9, 2021
Corriere dello Sport used the headline ‘Betrayed by Ronaldo’ on their front page on Wednesday morning, suggesting that the Portuguese should have blocked the shot which squeezed past Wojciech Szczesny and into the bottom corner.
Oliveira’s strike made it 2-2 on the night in the 115th minute and crucially gave Porto an extra away goal, meaning Adrien Rabiot’s late winner three minutes later counted for nothing.
The same newspaper also highlighted Szczesny for his role in Porto’s second goal of the night, describing his failure to save the shot as a ‘decisive error’, while making reference to the fact the visitors played with 10 men for over an hour after Mehdi Taremi’s red card on 54 minutes.
Gazzetta dello Sport also took aim at Pirlo and his players, calling Tuesday’s result ‘another Champions League disaster’ for the club.
Gazzetta dello Sport called Tuesday’s result ‘another Champions League disaster’ for Juventus
Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo looks frustrated on the touchline during Tuesday’s clash with Porto
Sergio Oliveira (middle) is mobbed by his team-mates after scoring the decisive goal for Porto
The Italian sports daily also took aim at Ronaldo, saying he had ‘disappointed’ across the entire game, rather than just criticising him for his poor defending late on.
Gazzetta claim that the future at Juve is now ‘full of uncertainty’ following their second consecutive exit from the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
More to follow.
Tuttosport went with ‘Juve, not like that!’ on their front page and called the result ‘incredible’
Ronaldo reflects on another early exit from the Champions League after the final whistle