Cristiano Ronaldo was called out for turning his back in a wall on Porto's deciding free-kick goal, as Juventus crashed out of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Ten-man Porto secured a major upset in the last 16, losing the second leg 3-2 in Turin after extra time but advancing via away goals with a 4-4 aggregate result.
The deciding moment in the tie came with just five minutes left in the second half of extra time, as Sergio Oliveira's free kick from long range went under Juve's wall and snuck past goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
What happened in Tuesday's game?
After winning the first leg 2-1 at home, Porto grabbed a massive away goal in the 19th minute when Oliveira's penalty made it 3-1 on aggregate.
But Juve struck back through Federico Chiesa, who scored two second-half goals on either side of a second yellow card for Porto's Mehdi Taremi.
Though up a man, Juve could not find a winner and Oliveira's second goal of the night came when Juve's wall disintegrated – with Ronaldo guilty of turning his back and lifting his leg, allowing the ball to go through his legs.
Adrien Rabiot's late goal was only a consolation as Juve crashed out of the competition, ensuring Ronaldo's wait for European glory with the Italian side will go on.
What was said on social media?
“Ronaldo wouldn’t let this happen”, a constant sentence you hear when Messi & Barca were knocked out by the likes of Liverpool and Bayern. But if that were true, why has Ronaldo been thrown out by Ajax, Lyon and now Porto in the last 3 years? How did he let that happen?
— J. (@MessiIizer) March 9, 2021
Ronaldo will get the blame for not being strong in the wall but the real villain is Juventus not creating a single chance for him in 210 minutes of football
— Filipe Orlando (@MrFilipeOrlando) March 9, 2021
Porto pinch it surely. We’ve finally found something Ronaldo can’t do: stand still in a wall. Blimey, Juve have scored again. 4-4 and Porto lead on away goals. Bonkers game.
— Gary Lineker 💙 (@GaryLineker) March 9, 2021
Ronaldo in the wall #JUVPOR pic.twitter.com/c0QPGlBiDX
— Adrian Durham (@talkSPORTDrive) March 9, 2021
🗣: Juve in the two games has taken too many goals by their own mistakes. The penalty kick was a gift from Demiral, but the worst one is the one of Ronaldo in the wall, it‘s an unforgivable mistake.
— Bianconeri Zone (@BianconeriZone) March 9, 2021
[Fabio Capello]
Jamie Carragher putting it best on CBS right now — “That’s school boy stuff from Ronaldo.”
— EiF (@EiFSoccer) March 9, 2021
The entire wall doesn’t cover themselves in glory here, but especially Ronaldo who isn’t even looking at the ball. Little things make the difference in these knockout tournaments. pic.twitter.com/6mUiQNN1o3
Further reading
- Ronaldo and Pirlo facing uncertain futures after shock UCL exit
- De Ligt won't 'copy' Ronaldo but is learning from the best
