Juventus: Cristiano Ronaldo flopped against Porto, plain and simple

For the second straight year, Juventus have been knocked out of the Champions League Round of 16. And for the third year in three years with Cristiano Ronaldo, the Bianconeri have failed to make it past the quarterfinals of a competition Ronaldo has won five times in his career.

The greatest player in Champions League history was cited as Juve’s biggest reason for optimism in the second leg. Juve had just failed miserably against Porto at the Estadio do Dragao, needing a late goal from Federico Chiesa to salvage something in a 2-1 loss. Ronaldo’s larger-than-life presence and non-stop scoring gave the Bianconeri optimism, though, heading into the decisive home fixture.

On the stat sheet, Ronaldo had an assist. But the credit for that goal goes to Leonardo Bonucci for the pass over the top and to Chiesa for a composed finish. Ronaldo’s lay-off for Chiesa was nice, but, in truth, it was the only real positive action from the Portuguese superstar.

In a game that featured a jaw-dropping 12 key passes from Juan Cuadrado, Ronaldo scored nothing from five shots. He completed no dribbles, per WhoScored.com. Aside from the assist, he did nothing to create for his teammates. It was an anonymous display from Ronaldo, who was blasted by fans for being the weakest link in a wall that allowed Sergio Oliveira to inexplicably score a free kick that ultimately sunk Juve’s Champions League hopes.

Cristiano Ronaldo was not the only Juventus player to struggle, but he was the most profound disappointment

Is it fair to blame the loss on Ronaldo? No. And it is even worse to overreact and diminish the 24 goals he has scored between Serie A and the Champions League this season. Ronaldo has been Juve’s best player in 2020-2021 and is still among the top five players in the world, easily.

But on that Tuesday night at the Juventus Stadium, Ronaldo was terrible. He was supposed to be the one to lift Juve with his quality and ensure their advancement against, quite frankly, the weakest side in the competition. Instead, he was blanketed by his former teammate and fellow countryman Pepe, who read Ronaldo cover-to-cover.

Aaron Ramsey, Alvaro Morata, and Alex Sandro must all answer for their equally putrid performances. And two of those three – Sandro and Ramsey – no longer belong in the starting lineup after this season, now on back-to-back years of maddeningly inconsistent play.

Ronaldo is not a problem for Juventus on the pitch. But financially? He could be. Most importantly, in the competition he is specifically supposed to deliver the goods in and transcend the moment, Ronaldo was, for one of the rare times in his career, too small for the occasion.

The No. 7 failed Juve. He was not the only one who failed Juve, but it is perfectly fine for Juventini to call it like it is. He struggled for most of the 120 minutes, did not atone for those woes with a moment of quality in front of goal, and is a key reason why the Bianconeri did not advance. Because, lest we forget, Ronaldo was just as putrid in the first leg, too.