Did Cristiano Ronaldo throw his jersey after Juventus vs. Genoa?

Juventus defeated Genoa for the third time in the 2020-2021 season this Sunday. And like the previous two meetings, the Bianconeri put three goals past Mattia Perin. It was another fluid attacking display from Andrea Pirlo’s men, who followed up well on their 2-1 win over Napoli this past Wednesday.

But you know who didn’t score one of those three goals? Cristiano Ronaldo. And some people decided to take the opportunity to further the narrative that Ronaldo isn’t a good team player. You know, never mind that he celebrated with Alvaro Morata, who scored an important personal goal to make things 2-0, breaking his goal-scoring drought.

Football Italia wrote that Cristiano Ronaldo threw his jersey on the ground after the game. The implication is that he did not care about the 3-1 win and disrespected the jersey in frustration at not personally adding to his goal-scoring tally this season.

But this is not true. Reliable Goal.com reporter Romeo Agresti reported that Ronaldo did not throw his jersey on the ground. What happened was not a gesture of disrespect, but it was actually a gesture of respect to somebody else.

Cristiano Ronaldo was actually giving his jersey to a ballboy.

Agresti states that a Juventus ballboy asked Ronaldo to give him his jersey, so, after the final whistle blew, Ronaldo tossed his jersey in the ballboy’s direction.

That’s it. That’s the story. There is no controversy here.

Now, is Ronaldo disappointed he didn’t score? I’m sure a player with his personal ambitions and competitive drive is. He wants to win the Capocannoniere this year after losing out on the award last year to Lazio striker Ciro Immobile, and Genoa’s defense was a prime opportunity for Ronaldo to score.

He did not and we move on. Maybe Ronaldo is also unsatisfied with Juve’s play this season as a whole, but, well, so are the fans, right?

We do not need to attack Ronaldo for this or make up stories that cause drama. Ronaldo did not disrespect the Juventus kit, he did not throw his jersey, and we do not have to attack him, Paulo Dybala, or any other star player. Juve are going through a tough time, and Juventini do not have to be among those attempting to tear this team apart.