Tearful Ronaldo sees red
Real Madrid managed to win easily in the Champions League without Cristiano Ronaldo. So did Juventus, after its superstar signing was tearfully sent off within 30 minutes.
Three-time defending champion Madrid eased to a 3-0 win over Roma yesterday, with Francisco ‘‘Isco’’ Alarcon scoring from the kind of free kick only Ronaldo got to take in his nine years with the club.
Ronaldo, making his Juventus debut in a competition he has won five times, also had a new experience – getting a red card, against Valencia for tangling with Jeison Murillo.
Seemingly frustrated that Murillo went to ground too easily, Ronaldo reached down to tug or ruffle the defender’s hair.
German referee Felix Brych did not have access to a video review but showed a red card after consulting his assistant behind the goal.
It was Ronaldo’s first sending off in 154 games in the competition and left him in tears.
Still, Juventus went on to win 2-0, scoring twice from penalties despite designated spot-kick taker Ronaldo not being there. Miralem Pjanic scored both times.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri insisted it shouldn’t have been a red card, and lamented the fact that video technology has yet to be introduced into the Champions League, as it has been in Serie A. VAR was also used at the World Cup in Russia this year.
‘‘I’ll only say that in this sort of occasion VAR would help,’’ Allegri said. ‘‘It’s disappointing because now we’ll lose him for a few games and instead if there had been VAR it would have been seen that it wasn’t a sending-off offence.
‘‘He was upset and he needs time to calm down. He needs to rise above it and focus on Sunday, even if these things leave a bitter taste in the mouth.’’
Even Valencia coach Marcelino Garcia attempted to comfort Ronaldo as he walked off the pitch.
‘‘I didn’t see the contact, I was affected by his tears. He was saying he didn’t do anything,’’ Marcelino said. ‘‘I spoke with him but I won’t say what I told him.’’
Elsewhere, one of the favourites to dethrone Madrid this season, Manchester City, lost at home and Manchester United won away to further dispel its uneasy start to the season.
City was lacklustre in a 2-1 loss to Lyon, while rival United had little trouble winning 3-0 at Swiss champion Young Boys.
It could have been tricky for Madrid. No Ronaldo on the field, no Zinedine Zidane in the dugout, and facing Roma, a semifinalist last season.
But it was business as usual for the 13-time European champion under new coach Julen Lopetegui. Isco, Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz got the goals.
Bale finished off an accurate pass by Luka Modric, and goalkeeper Keylor Navas kept a clean sheet after being preferred to new signing Thibaut Courtois.
Also in Group G, CSKA Moscow trailed 2-0 at halftime, but a stoppage time penalty from Nikola Vlasic made it 2-2 at Czech champion Viktoria Plzen.
Paul Pogba scored twice and set up Anthony Martial for Man United’s third goal in a comfortable win at Swiss champion Young Boys.
Though Pogba has been unsettled at United this season, his curling shot and trademark slow-trot penalty within eight first-half minutes suggested he is feeling happier now.
United had lost on its last two trips to Switzerland, both against Basel, but is in a good position to welcome Valencia in two weeks’ time.
With coach Pep Guardiola watching in the stand, serving a ban carried over from last season, Man City was surprisingly beaten 2-1 by visiting Lyon.
City trailed by two goals at halftime, when errors were punished by Maxwel Cornet and Nabil Fekir, a member of France’s World Cup squad.
The manner of City’s Premier League title win last season has persuaded many that Guardiola can add to his two Champions League crowns with Barcelona.
But the stadium was far from full yesterday, and City only managed to pull one goal back in the 67th from Bernardo Silva.
The other Group F game saw Hoffenheim make its Champions League debut in Ukraine. Playing at its adopted home city Kharkiv, Shakhtar Donetsk got a late leveller in a 2-2 draw.