Cristiano Ronaldo is a pioneer in the history of soccer. With countless trophies, goals, and accolades to his name, he is arguably one of the greatest soccer players of all time. The Portuguese star has dominated this era of soccer alongside his rival, Lionel Messi. However, while Ronaldo may display extra-terrestrial capabilities on the soccer pitch, he also has his human side.
Over his career span, Cristiano Ronaldo is known to be an emotional player. Rising from humble beginnings, the former Manchester United star is frequently seen showing his emotions on the pitch. While Ronaldo celebrates his goals in his unique style, he also shows his frustration and disappointment during defeats. Recently, a video of Cristiano Ronaldo has gone viral on social media platforms where he shows many facets of his emotions.
Cristiano Ronaldo crying / sad / angry pic.twitter.com/Z5rh87DxJ7
— reaction memes @VideoReacts (@VideoReacts) August 9, 2020
The video has amassed more than 2.5 million views on Twitter. In the video, Ronaldo can be seen sitting on the ground, holding his head down. He was also seen crying and gesticulating in frustration and anger, while his teammates try to calm him down. The video is from 2018 when Ronaldo was making his Champions League debut for his new team, Juventus.
Why did Cristiano Ronaldo break down in his Champions League debut for Juventus?
The reason why Cristiano Ronaldo is seen crying in the video is that his Champions League debut for Juventus didn’t go exactly according to plan. Ronaldo made the headlines in 2018 when he left Real Madrid for Juventus just after winning the Champions League title. In what was a blockbuster move, there was a lot of onus on Ronaldo to end Juventus’ Champions League drought.
Ronaldo’s Juventus faced Spanish side Valencia in the opening game of their 2018 Champions League campaign. There was a lot riding on Ronaldo, since prior to Juventus’ match, his rival, Messi had scored a hat trick during Barcelona’s opening match in the Champions League that season. However, in the 29th minute, Ronaldo’s debut was cut short when he was sent off the game.
Ronaldo gets his first UCL red card for touching Murillo’s head#Ronaldo #UEFAChampionsLeague #UCL #Juventus #Valencia pic.twitter.com/qc8lErS4Ig
— The Diurnal Sport (@thediurnalsport) September 20, 2018
Ronaldo was penalized for pulling on the hair of Valencia’s Jeison Murillo. The match referee consulted with the other match official and showed a straight red card to the Juventus star (via CBS). Ronaldo immediately fell to the ground, holding his head, with teary eyes. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, the incident couldn’t be reviewed since VAR hadn’t been introduced in the Champions League back then.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the ONLY player to score a hat-trick vs Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid… he’s scored 4 (FOUR) hat-tricks against them. pic.twitter.com/AFVfRDBemZ
— TCR. (@TeamCRonaldo) February 23, 2020
Although Ronaldo’s debut was a rather forgettable one, he soon returned to scoring goals for Juventus. Unfortunately, Ronaldo couldn’t lead the Italian giants to Champions League glory. However, Ronaldo scored a memorable hat trick for Juventus against Atletico Madrid to help the Bianconeri win the Round of 16 3-2 on aggregate.