Twitter explodes as Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus sensationally crash out of UCL after five-goal thriller against Porto
FC Porto caused one of the biggest upsets in this year's edition of the UEFA Champions League as they knocked Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus out of the competition. The Italian champions trailed 2-1 to start off with and the tie ended at 4-4 but Porto scored the crucial away goal which made the difference.
This is the second year in a row that Juventus have crashed out in the round of 16 after losing to Olympique Lyon last year despite Cristiano Ronaldo's heroics.
Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo understandably chose to field a strong XI and drafted superstar striker Cristiano Ronaldo back into the side for the all-important clash. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was rested during their recent 3-1 win over Lazio, and he was joined by Alvaro Morata and Federico Chiesa in attack against Porto.
The Old Lady got off to a rough start as they conceded a costly away goal within the first 20 minutes of the game. Merih Demiral caught Mehdi Taremi within his penalty box and gave away a spot-kick which was effortlessly converted by Sergio Oliveira. Cristiano Ronaldo's side found themselves 3-1 down on aggregate with it all to do in the remaining 70-odd minutes.
Juventus then began to pile numbers further up the pitch which Porto took advantage of, hitting the hosts on the counter and ended up registering more attempts than Juventus in the first half.
Federico Chiesa steps up for Juventus on a night to forget for Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo, in particular, had a half to forget. The Portuguese legend failed to register a shot, create a chance or attempt a dribble in the first 45, highlighting how well Juventus' attack was marshaled by his former teammate Pepe and co.
The second half, however, was a different proposition entirely as Juventus turned on the afterburners to storm back into the tie.
Cristiano Ronaldo sparked the comeback as he latched onto an excellent ball in the box and set up a shot for Federico Chiesa which the Italian smashed into the top corner in stunning style. It was his second goal in the tie as he also scored Juventus' only goal in Portugal last week.
Porto began to feel the pressure and striker Mehdi Taremi's sending off dealt a massive blow to their hopes of progressing to the next round. The Iranian picked up a yellow card in the 52nd minute and went on to pick up another one just two minutes later for needlessly kicking the ball into the stands. Cristiano Ronaldo failed to convert another great opportunity in the following minutes.
Porto were made to pay for Taremi's moment of madness just under ten minutes later when Chiesa, who had arguably been the player of the tie so far, came up clutch again with a thumping header to meet a delightful ball from Juan Cuadrado.
The Italian could have even had a third goal but was denied by Pepe as well as the woodwork as the Dragoes did just about enough to stop him. Pepe had a monumental role to play as he kept a watchful eye on Portugal and ex-Real Madrid teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
Porto continued to do so for the remainder of the game as Juventus threw bodies forward. Alvaro Morata saw his goal chalked off for being offside and Juan Cuadrado came very close to winning it for them with a brilliant strike which rattled the crossbar.
The tie eventually went into extra-time with the score tied at 3-3 on aggregate.
The chance to draw first blood fell to Porto's Moussa Marega who spurned a golden opportunity with a header from six yards out but arrowed it straight to Wojciech Szczesny. Cristiano Ronaldo's lengthy appeals for a penalty in the 103rd minute were waved off by referee Bjorn Kuipers, much to the striker's dismay.
Sergio Oliveira and Pepe inspire Porto to historic result
Oliveira stunned the hosts with an astonishing free-kick under the wall after winning a foul outside Juventus' box in the 114th minute. His strike was powerful enough to find the back of the net despite Szczesny getting a hand to it. The midfielder fired his side to a 4-3 lead on aggregate and scored the goal that ultimately made the difference.
Juventus got one back just two minutes later as Adrien Rabiot had a free header from a corner to take the tie to 4-4, but Porto had the crucial away goal.
The Portuguese side defended valiantly to see out the dying minutes of the game and narrowly escaped another penalty appeal from Juventus after Matthijs de Ligt went down in the box.
In the end, it was too little, too late as Cristiano Ronaldo's Juventus unceremoniously crashed out at the round of 16 stage for the second successive year. His former teammate Pepe was arguably one of the best players on the pitch and made a staggering 18 (!) clearances on the night.
Juventus' mission to win the UCL, for which Cristiano Ronaldo was purchased from Real Madrid, hit another stumbling block. This result means that they have now failed to make it past the last eight — where they fell to AFC Ajax two years ago — even once in his three years at the club.
Here are some of the best tweets from the game!