Cristiano Ronaldo’s Champions League debut for Juventus came to a premature end as he was shown a contentious red card. And he may now miss the reunion with Manchester United.

Ex-Real Madrid forward Ronaldo was dismissed after just 29 minutes in the pitch. His much-anticipated return to Spain came to a premature end following an off-the-ball incident involving Jeison Murillo.

Referee Felix Brych consulted with his assistants and brandished a straight red for Ronaldo’s apparent attempt to pull Murillo’s hair. The 33-year-old was reduced to tears in the aftermath to the dismissal. He could now miss a reunion with his former club Manchester United in October, if UEFA chooses to extend his mandatory one-match ban.

Marcelino, Valencia’s coach told reporters “He was very upset, even crying, because he said he didn’t do anything wrong. I haven’t seen the play which ended up in the red card.”

Emre Can reacted to the dismissal of Cristiano Ronaldo in Juventus’ 2-0 Champions League win over Valencia. He said “we are not women”. After watching a replay of the incident, Can told DAZN “That’s supposed to be a red ? I just heard he said it was because of hair pulling. We’re not women, we’re playing football. If you’re going to give a red for that, you can give a red for anything. It was 100 per cent not a red card.”

Ronaldo’s sister Katia Aveiro took to Instagram to voice her displeasure at the decision, which ended the Portugal captain’s first Champions League appearance for Juventus. “Shame on football. Justice will be done. They want to destroy my brother but God never sleeps. Shameful.” she posted.

The whole footballing fraternity was shocked by the referee’s decision. What remains to be seen is that, will UEFA take any step against the linesman and the referee for such a huge mistake? Will they introduce VAR from the next season? There are many more questions arising now, which needs to be answered.

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