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CRISTIANO RONALDO’s shock was evident when his Juventus side was crushed 3-0 at home by Fiorentina on Tuesday night, then vowed to come back stronger in the New Year.
The Serie A champions got off to a nightmare start and fell behind after three minutes and then sent off a man with 18 plays.
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Ronaldo had a header ruled out by VAR and blew a glorious equalizing opportunity for the Old Lady when he was thwarted by Fiorentina goalkeeper Bartlomiej Dragowski.
And two late goals ensured Ronaldo’s first defeat of the season: he missed the first match of the Barcelona Champions League due to his positive coronavirus tests.
Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, he wrote: “Yesterday, with a poor performance and a result far from acceptable, we closed our games scheduled for 2020, a special year in many particular respects.
“Empty stadiums, Covid protocols, games postponed, long stoppages and a very tight schedule. But this is no excuse at all.
“We know that we have to give more of ourselves, to play better and win more consistently. We are Juventus! And we simply cannot accept anything less than excellence on the field!
“I hope this short stoppage will help us to come back stronger and more united than ever because the season is still far from over and in the end we believe that, once again, we will celebrate with our tiffosi.
“Believe in us, trust our team as much as we trust you, and we will deliver! Fino Alla Fine [Until The End]! “
The Italian press focused on the images of Ronaldo in disbelief as the events unfolded at the Allianz Stadium.
Corriere dello Sport went with the headline: “Juve, what a slap.”
Ronaldo’s loss was not only his first of the season, but it equaled his biggest loss since joining Juventus in 2018, tying a Coppa Italia 3-0 scoreline against Atalanta in January 2015.
In fact, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner has not suffered a tougher defeat since a 4-0 El Clásico loss to Barcelona in November 2015.
It was also a night to forget for Aaron Ramsey, a £ 400,000-a-week man.
He was the man sacrificed by coach Andrea Pirlo after just 19 minutes when Juan Cuadrado’s challenge went from a yellow card to a red card after a VAR review.
The furious Welshman donned a bottle of water before sitting down again with the substitutes for the remainder of the league game.
Dusan Vlahovic’s exquisite starting chip, an own goal by Alex Sandro and a goal by Martín Cáceres condemned Juve to defeat and left them seven points behind Serie A leaders AC Milan.
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