The Reason Ronaldo Was Sent Off Revealed?
Cristiano Ronaldo was controversially sent off in his UEFA Champions League debut for Juventus on Wednesday, a football official has now spoken about why he thinks the Portugal captain was shown the red card.
After Ronaldo's tussle with Valencia defender Jeison Murillo in the first half of the Juve's 2-0 win over Valencia, Cristiano Ronaldo was surprised by the referee's red-card.
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The Portuguese superstar appeared to be teary-eyed, as he made his way down the tunnel after the referee seems to believe he had acted in a violent manner during his spat with the Colombian defender.
Mark Clattenburg a former Premier League referee has since commented on the incident, saying he thinks the additional assistant may have thought Ronaldo used his elbow to hit Murillo in the initial contact.
He told the Daily Mail. "With the ball on the left wing, the forward tried to make a run into the penalty area and was blocked off by Jeison Murillo."
"There was a small push from Ronaldo, which resulted in the Valencia defender falling to the floor, but that was not violent conduct.
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"Referee Felix Brych had his back to the incident.
"It was spotted by the additional assistant, standing behind the goal, who may have thought Ronaldo threw an elbow, but that was not the case.
"Ronaldo was then clearly annoyed by Murillo's play-acting and placed a hand on the defender's head.
"The contact looked very slight and I cannot see how the additional assistant, standing some 20 yards away, could deem it violent conduct.
"If I had been officiating this game, I would have given Valencia a free-kick and shown a yellow card to each player.
"Ronaldo will serve a one-match ban, but anything more would be harsh."
The Juventus star will now miss his team's next Champions League match, against Young Boys on 2 October.
