Cristiano Ronaldo faces missing out on a return to Old Trafford to face former club Manchester United after being sent off for Juventus at Valencia in the Champions League on Wednesday.
The Portuguese striker tussled with Jeison Murillo and appeared to put his hand on the centre-back’s head in the 29th minute inside the box, with the official behind the goal signalling for an offence.
German referee Felix Brych consulted with his assistant and opted to show the red card.
A stunned Ronaldo, who moved to Juve in the summer from Real Madrid, was left in tears as he walked off the Mestalla pitch into the tunnel.
If he receives the full suspension, he faces missing going up against United at Old Trafford on October 23, and the game in Turin on November 7.
It was Ronaldo’s first red card in 154 Champions League games.
The 33-year-old joined Juventus in the off-season and scored his first two goals for Juventus at the weekend in a 2-1 win over Sassuolo in Serie A.
He is the Champions League all-time leading scorer with 120 goals.
Juve, who shrugged off their numerical disadvantage to win 2-0 through Miralem Pjanic’s pair of penalties, could appeal the decision but head coach Massimiliano Allegri led calls for the introduction of video assistant referees in the competition.
“I can only say that VAR would’ve helped the referee in this decision,” Allegri said.
“Going down to 10 men in the Champions League for an incident like that is disappointing. We risked losing with this and we’ll miss him for the next games too.”
