Ronaldo faces ban for Champions League q-final

ZURICH: Cristiano Ronaldo is in danger of missing Juventus’ Champions League quarter-final tie with Ajax after UEFA charged him for his ‘cojones’ celebration.

Ronaldo imitated Atletico coach Diego Simeone’s gesture from the first leg of Juve’s last 16 tie with the Spanish club after scoring a hat-trick to knock out Atletico in the return fixture last week.

UEFA have now acted and charged Ronaldo with improper conduct, which could result in a ban for the former Real Madrid man.

Simeone was fined £17,000 (RM92,000) for the incident but escaped a touchline ban for the return match at the Allianz Stadium.

If Ronaldo is banned by UEFA, he is likely to only miss the first leg of Juventus’ quarter-final tie in Amsterdam on April 10. The return fixture takes place in Turin on April 16.

Meanwhile, Juventus suffered their first Serie A defeat of the season on Sunday, losing 2-0 to Genoa with late goals from former player Stefano Sturaro and Goran Pandev.

In addition to Ronaldo, Massimiliano Allegri rested key players including defender Giorgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny with former Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin taking his place between the posts.

Juventus’s lead was cut to 15 points by Napoli who got back to winning ways, prevailing 4-2 against Udinese despite goalkeeper David Ospina collapsed on the pitch after suffering a head injury. The on-loan Arsenal keeper was later given the all clear following a CT scan at a Naples hospital.

Juventus had won 24 of their 27 previous matches in Serie A this season with three draws, including a 1-1 stalemate against Genoa in Turin.

“It’s not a tragedy, but I’m sorry because we wanted to remain unbeaten,” said Allegri. “You can’t play all the games at your maximum. The Champions League match certainly weighed heavy.”

It was the first league defeat for Allegri’s side since April 2018 against Napoli, and first away since losing at Sampdoria in November 2017.