Juventus attacker Cristiano Ronaldo didn't do his chances of winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or Award for this year much good after he failed to prevent his team from an early exit in the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo was largely ineffective as Juventus crashed out of the Champions League at the round of 16 and he would have almost hurt his chances of winning the 2021 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award as a result. Ronaldo and Juventus paid dearly for a feeble performance in the first leg against FC Porto.
The Portuguese giants beat Juventus 2-1 in the first leg at the EstadioDragao in Oporto to take charge of their last 16 tie. Mehdi Taremi was one of the goalscorers for FC Porto in that first leg. In addition to the Iranian national team striker, Moussa Marega of the Malian national team also scored for Porto. Juventus had to rely on young forward Federico Chiesa for the away goal that kept the tie alive for the Old Lady ahead of the second leg at home, the Allianz Stadium in Turin.
Just like what's obtainable with the first leg, Cristiano Ronaldo was largely ineffective as his team suffered elimination due to the away goal rule. Federico Chiesa was the main man in the first leg and that was what happened in the second leg after he netted a brace in the 3-2 win over Porto at the end of extra time. He scored the first Juventus goal with a little help from Ronaldo. Apart from Chiesa, Frenchman Adrien Rabiot also scored for Juventus. He was responsible for the only Juventus strike in extra time. For Porto, Sergio Oliviera scored the two goals with one coming in extra time. FC Porto played over an hour without Mehdi Taremi who was sent off for two yellow cards after 54 minutes. He was booked twice in the space of two minutes.
Ronaldo was second at the 2020 FIFA Ballon d'Or Award behind Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski and he is one of the frontrunners for the award this year but the early Champions League exit might have affected his chances of winning the FIFA Ballon d'Or Award.
