Cristiano Ronaldo’s Red Card Shows Champions League Needs VAR – Allegri
Sep 20, 2018 at 3:49 PM
Juventus manager, Massimiliano Allegri feels UEFA Champions League immediately needs VAR after Cristiano Ronaldo received an unfair red card against Valencia in the side’s opening game on Wednesday.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s UCL debut at Juventus lasted for only 29 minutes.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s UCL debut with Juventus ended in tears, as he received a shock red card at the 29th minute of the game. This may also mean he is set to miss the away game against his former team Manchester United.
The Portuguese star appeared to pull Valencia defender, Jeison Murillo’s hair in an off-the-ball incident. And the referee showed a straight red to Ronaldo after it. However, the Juventus manager feels things could have been different if VAR would have been available.
“I can only say that VAR would have helped the referee in this decision. It is disappointing because we will lose an important player for at least a match.”
However, Juventus secured a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Valencia courtesy of two calm and collected penalty from Miralem Pjanic. And Allegri praised his side’s composure amid a heated atmosphere.
“We were playing very well until Ronaldo’s sending off but we continued to play our football despite that blow and deservedly scored two goals. Playing here was not easy because Valencia attack with this stadium supporting them from the first to the last minute. I think the lads did very well, especially because they played good football when we had to do that. We all pulled together as a team when it was the moment to defend these three points.”
Juventus will face Young Boys next in the Champions League and Manchester United in their third game. Ronaldo is likely to miss both of the games because of the red card.