Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to be punished with only a one-game ban after receiving a red card in Juventus’ 2-0 Champions League win over Valencia on Wednesday.
The one-game suspension for Champions League play means that Ronaldo will miss out on the team’s home match against Young Boys, but should be able to compete against his former club when Juventus travels to Manchester United next month.
Red Card Controversy Rages
While UEFA could extend the length of the ban if they feel that the offense was serious in nature, sources told ESPN that only a one-game punishment is expected in this case.
Ronaldo was sent off after clashing with Valencia’s Jeison Murillo in the 29th minute of Wednesday’s match. After a challenge sent Murillo to the ground, Ronaldo tugged at the Valencia defender’s hair.
Referee Felix Brych surprised most when he reacted to the play by issuing a red card to Ronaldo. Criticism of Brych was particularly harsh when viewers only had access to some poor camera angles that showed the incident at distance. But even after better views of the clash were released, the red card remained controversial to say the least.
“It’s very harsh,” Juventus midfielder Blaise Matuidi said after the match. “I think if you have seen the pictures, you’ll have seen that it’s incomprehensible. I hope that [UEFA] will look at it and that they will have something positive for him, because he doesn’t deserve that.”
One of the harshest critics of the decision was Ronaldo’s sister Katia Aveiro, who posted her thoughts on Instagram on Thursday.
“A football disgrace,” she wrote. “Justice will be done…they want to destroy my brother, but God never sleeps.”
Still, while many felt the decision was harsh, most independent observers agreed that UEFA wouldn’t overturn the ruling – the first time Ronaldo had received a red card in 154 career Champions League matches.
“It was a soft sending-off for Ronaldo,” Stoke City midfielder Darren Fletcher told BBC Radio 5. “But the letter of the law says you probably cannot do that, so I think the one-match ban will probably stick.”
Juventus Can Survive Ronaldo’s Absence
While the match was scoreless when Ronaldo was sent off, Juventus managed to score twice while a man down, with Miralem Pjanic converting on two penalties to give his team a critical away win to start their Champions League campaign.
Even without Ronaldo, Juventus is widely expected to win their home game against Young Boys, a Swiss side that had to fight its way through qualifying to reach the Champions League group stage. According to Paddy Power, Juventus is a 1/8 favorite to come away with a win in the Oct. 2 match.
That said, the Italian champions will want to keep their new star on the field for the rest of the competition. While Paddy Power gives Juventus 13/2 odds of winning the Champions League, they’ll face stiff challenges from the likes of Manchester City (11/2), Barcelona (11/2), and Bayern Munich (7/1).
Juventus paid a €100 million ($117 million) transfer fee this summer to pry Ronaldo away from Real Madrid, where the Portuguese icon had played since 2009.