CRISTIANO RONALDO was slammed for turning his back on Porto’s winning free-kick as Fabio Capello branded it ‘unforgivable’.
Sergio Olivera struck in the 115th minute to put the Portuguese ten men 4-3 in front on aggregate on a bonkers night at Juventus’ Allianz Stadium.
Alvaro Morara, Cristiano Ronaldo and Adrien Rabiot turned their back on Porto’s winning free-kickCredit: EPA
Adrien Rabiot pulled one back with a header three minutes from time but it was not enough as Ronaldo and Co crashed out of the Champions League at the last-16 stage.
Capello was furious with his former side and hit out at Ronaldo for his sheepish error.
Olivera, who had scored an early penalty, took a huge run-up at the ball 30 yards from goal.
Expecting the Porto midfielder to leather is as hard as possible, Ronaldo, Rabiot and Alvaro Morata in the three-man wall all jumped around as he took the strike.
But Olivera brilliantly drove the ball along the ground and under the wall – who lost sight of it as they turned.
And despite getting a decent hand to it, Wojciech Szczesny could not keep it out.
Capello raged on Sky Sport Italia: “That was an unforgivable error.
“In my day, you chose the players who went into the wall and they couldn’t be someone afraid of the ball.
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“They were scared of the ball and jumped away from it, turning their backs.
“That’s unforgivable.”
Juventus’ long wait for European glory goes on for another year while question marks remain over whether Ronaldo will still be at the club next season.
The Old Lady are thought to be willing to sell him this summer in order to save on his £540,000-a-week wages with the club reeling from the financial hit of coronavirus.
One player they will refuse to sell is Matthijs de Ligt – the Dutchman is not only a top-quality young defender but is a natural leader in the dressing room.
And that was evident on Tuesday night as only he, Federico Chiesa and Juan Cuadrado fronted the Sky media cameras while the more senior players were ‘nowhere to be seen’.
Ex-England boss Capello added: “You see only the youngest players actually stepped in and showed their face during the tough moments.
“In this team, there are some veterans who turn up when they win to take the credit, then are nowhere to be seen when they lose.”
The ball went straight under the Juventus players who could not see where it was
Wojciech Szczesny could not stop the strike as the three-man wall watch on in horrorCredit: AP:Associated Press
Ronaldo suffered another early exit from the Champions League as Juve’s wait goes onCredit: AP:Associated Press
Manager Andrea Pirlo only pockets £1.6million-per-year after taking charge of the club
Cristiano Ronaldo sulks in Juventus dressing-room in unseen footage for Amazon Prime All or Nothing trailer
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
