Andrea Pirlo will be ‘spirited’ with Cristiano Ronaldo after managing Sergio Oliveira’s decisive free kick when he knocked Porto Juventus out of the Champions League with goals away from home after a dramatic 4-4 draw on aggregate.
Portugal captain jumped off Oliveira’s blazing free kick from 30 yards to let former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Chesney scramble to the right to no avail.
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Cristiano Ronaldo will leave Andrea Pirlo feeling “angered” for his role in Porto’s victory against Juventus.
BT Sport
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner turned his back on Sergio Oliveira’s free kick
Adrien Rabiot scored his first goal in the Champions League as an almost immediate reaction to leaving the Italian team needing only one goal with three minutes of extra time remaining.
However, Ronaldo and his Juventus team-mates failed to find a way to overtake the 38-year-old Pepe and his fellow defenders, who stuck to victory in Turin.
Jimmy O’Hara watched the match for talkSPORT 2 and believes Juventus coach Andrea Pirlo will be angry at what he sees as a five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
“Pirlo will be angry,” O’Hara said, “Ronaldo has completely turned his back.” “ It runs completely through its legs and leaves no chance for Schucsoni.
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Pirlo could only watch his troops exit the Round of 16
“You don’t want to see it from your best player, not in those moments. You depend on your wall to do work there.”
However, the former Tottenham man was quick to pay tribute to his former Real Madrid team-mate, Pepe, who helped marshal the defense as the Italians increased the pressure as time ran out.
He was an absolute master class in terms of defense; O’Hara added, “He knows where the ball is going.”
“He defended his six-yard box as if his life depended on it. He was a role model and he could go into this dressing room with his head held high.”
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The 38-year-old Bibi stood firm to help Porto send off Juventus
Comfortable Demiral put Juventus in a weak position within 20 minutes after his clumsy mistake gave Oliveira a chance to score from 12 yards and sent Szcisenne in the wrong direction.
Federico Chiesa brought the Italians back into the game within four minutes of the second half after he fired into the top corner from close range after Ronaldo beat the offside trap to clear the ball.
When Mehdi Tarimi was sent off after quick warnings twice – the second to throw the ball away – moments later, Juventus was suddenly full of confidence.
After slapping the post, Chiesa was the champ again as they tied with just under half an hour to play.
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Ronaldo was agonizing over another season without succeeding in the Champions League
Former Chelsea player Juan Cuadrado fired a superb cross and the winger dutifully headed the net, with the video assistant referee undergoing a lengthy check before the goal was allowed to stand.
Alvaro Morata canceled a right goal for offside in stoppage time, before Cuadrado hit the crossbar with a vicious left-footed shot.
But Oliveira was the one who found the decisive goal, as his free kick from distance hit the net in one way or another to leave Juventus needing to score twice to win. Rabiot grabbed his back to deliver a dramatic ending.
However, the Portuguese side held on thanks to Pepe’s flexibility and defensive charges in the back, while there would certainly be serious questions posed to Pirlo and the £ 99m Ronaldo player after their early exit from the competition.