Although it didn’t cost them against Valencia, Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri wasn’t best pleased with Cristiano Ronaldo’s red card in his side’s 2-0 win.
The decision was taken after an incident with Jeison Murillo in the first half, as after consulting with his assistant, the referee showed the 33-year-old a straight red card.
That led to a distraught reaction from Ronaldo as he left the pitch as he undoubtedly felt as though he had been wronged, but the decision stood and he now faces an anxious wait to determine how long his suspension will be as it could rule him out of a return to Old Trafford to face former club Man Utd.
Allegri though believes that VAR would have sorted out the issue and allowed the officials to arrive at the correct decision, but of course the technology isn’t being used in the Champions League.
The Italian tactician will be fully aware of its influence having been in effect in Serie A since last season, and he feels as though it could have played a fundamental role in reversing the decision and avoiding the issue surrounding his talisman altogether.
“I can only say that certainly the VAR would have helped the referee in this situation because to be down to ten men in the 20th minute in the Champions League for such a situation is disappointing,” he told Sky Sport Italia, as noted by ESPN. “We risked losing tonight and now we can only hope he is not banned for long.”
Time will tell how many games Juventus are now without Ronaldo in Europe, but based on their display on Wednesday night at the Mestalla, they will be confident in their ability to pick up the necessary results without him to continue to move towards advancing from the group.
Losing the five-time winner is a blow though, and with no VAR to help them, Juve must now plot a way to see off Young Boys in their next European fixture without Ronaldo leading the way given the minimum one-match ban.