It should have been a return to the happy hunting ground of the Champions League for Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus. However the new signing has a nightmare of a CL debut for the Italian side, getting a straight red card on 29 minutes for what looked like an innocuous clash with a Valencia defender.
Though it is hard to make out from the footage, the decision of the referee to award a straight red looks odd:
Ronaldo red card against Valencia in Champions League. #ValenciaJuve #ValenciaJuventus #Ronaldo #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/6MR7C9ea3L
— SportJunkie (@SportJunkie8) September 19, 2018
The Portugese appeared to be in tears as he left the pitch, and the conversation will now surely turn to whether Ronaldo will appeal the red card, with the attacker facing a three match suspension for violent conduct.
Cristiano Ronaldo Crying RED CARD Valencia - Real Madrid #ucl #valencia #cristiano #ronaldo #realmadrid #juventus pic.twitter.com/fTRsfRIyxU
— Footy GIF (@FootballGIF2018) September 19, 2018
1 - Cristiano Ronaldo has received his first red card in the Champions League in his 154th appearance in the competition. Off.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) September 19, 2018Dashboard
Despite their numerical disadvantage, Juve took the lead through a Miralem Pjanic penalty on the stroke of half time.
Further images have since surfaced which appear to show Ronaldo grabbing the hair of centre back Murillo, but surely a yellow card would have sufficed for the infraction:
