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| Cristiano Ronaldo was jeered throughout the match |
Cristiano Ronaldo was singled out by Atletico Madrid fans on Wednesday as Juventus lost 2-0 in the Champions League last 16 but the former Real Madrid forward was quick to point out his stellar record in the competition.
โI won five Champions Leagues and these guys zero,โ Ronaldo told reporters after the game, holding up his hand in the shape of a โzeroโ to drive home his point.
The Portuguese forward was jeered throughout the match at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, where Atletico got late goals from Uruguayan defenders Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin to take a vital lead into the return leg on March 12.
He responded to the taunts by holding up five fingers to indicate the number of times he had won the competition, four times with arch-rivals Real and once with Manchester United.
Atletico have reached the final of Europeโs elite club competition three times but never lifted the trophy.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri meanwhile was typically unruffled after the defeat, saying โthese things happenโ.
But Allegriโs decisions came under scanner after his team were swept aside by the streetwise Spaniards, leaving their hopes of winning the competition hanging by a thread.
Unbeaten in Serie A this season, Juventus have lost three of their seven Champions League matches and now face a huge task to overturn the deficit in Turin on March 12.
In four full seasons at Juventus, Allegri has led his team to four successive league and cup doubles and two Champions League finals.
He has managed to rebuild the side following the departure of players such as Paul Pogba, Arturo Vidal and the talismanic pair of Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon.
In the past, Allegri has been the one giving the tactical masterclass, such as last seasonโs round of 16 match against Tottenham Hotspur when he turned the tie around by substituting both fullbacks at the same time.
On Wednesday, however, he was outfoxed by opposite number Diego Simeone.
Having earlier emphasised the importance of an away goal, Allegriโs first surprise move was when he omitted right back Joao Cancelo even though the Portuguese has become one of Juveโs most impressive attacking weapons this season.
Mattia De Sciglio, chosen in his place, was defensively solid but offered little going forward.
In the second half, while Simeone made three quickfire substitutions between the 58th and 67th minutes, Allegri waited until the 73rd minute to replace Miralem Pjanic with fellow midfielder Emre Can.
The later additions of Cancelo and Federico Bernardeschi โ who nearly grabbed a precious away goal when his shot was turned away by Jan Oblak โ were too little, too late.
Atleticoโs goals โ in the 78th and 83rd minutes โ were both scored while those players were waiting to come on.
Allegri admitted his side were caught out.
โWe played a bad second half, making the mistake of going after them,โ he said. โWe got the approach wrong in the second half โ itโs that simple.โ
He also conjured up the odd excuse that Atletico have more experience in big matches.
โThey are more used playing games of this type than us: they remained inside the game even if there were no big jolts, while we made mistakes.โ
The only consolation was that the return leg had to be better.
โWe couldnโt be any worse than in the second half, so we must have confidence for the return leg. We knew that Atletico make you play badly, and to beat them you need to stay on top,โ he said.
โThe 2-0 can be overturned, it is useless to cry on it.โ
