Cristiano Ronaldo's petulant league scoffs a sign that he is cracking under pressure from Juventus

You could understand how much Cristiano Ronaldo was touched by the fact that his only response to the media – and his only major contribution in the evening – was to double a dose of grudge.

"I have five leagues of champions," he told Spanish reporters in the mixed zone, before referring to Atletico Madrid. "You do not have one."

That's true, but not very relevant at the moment. The statistics that really matter are that his team is 2-0, and this competition record also applies to the majority of his teammates Juventus and his manager Max Allegri.

The Italians have been so desperate for this first Champions League since 1996. It was something that Ronaldo's much-vaunted signature was supposed to give.

It puts a lot of pressure on him before a return match that will require the most sensational turnarounds, and perhaps one of his best games of the year in the Champions League, if he prevents one of his worst career performance. competition and a lot of embarrbadment.

It is only Tuesday, and on the eve of this defeat, that Giorgio Chiellini explained that the Portuguese badured that Juve "exceeds the objectives that we thought could be new limits".

Nobody expected these limits to be the last 16, which would be Juventus' first joint to be out of the competition for half a decade. Ronaldo himself has not been out before the semifinals since 2009/10 with Real Madrid.

Once again, Ronaldo has not had as many goals in the Champions League – one in six – since 2005/06, when he had only hit one goal in eight.

His performance reflected this return: quality flashes isolated in a lot of nothing.

There was of course this brilliant free-kick very early that forced Jan Oblak to perform such a rescue, then when he placed the hinders for cooking in order to break into the Atletico box. in the second half, but the way this movement ended is revealing. Diego Godin ran convincingly and cleanly to win the ball and clear.

Ronaldo was brought back to earth and literally left on the ground.

This is where he spent most of the match, complaining to the referee of potential fouls.

It was of course all the more serious that Ronaldo had this kind of party against Atletico, a team for whom he represented an "ogre". He has punished them many times, with some of his 22 goals against him directly contributing to these five Champions League medals. He gladly reminded their supporters before the match by raising those five fingers, but they made it so briskly, especially when they took the lead.

It was the sweetest revenge.

And there was also a deeper relevance to football.

The experience of so many Ronaldo workshops by Atletico did not cause fear or anxiety as it would have been if it was his former club Real Madrid.

It only dismissed them, their previous knowledge of how he plays giving them only us, as Godin has shown. They were wise for him.

The free kick was Ronaldo's closest goal, until his personal sense of injustice added an insult, as he diverted Godin's efforts to his own net for what might be the killer shot .

There is a chance that this moment can finish the tie.

There is a good chance that – and this season – brings a lot of discussion, Ronaldo is finished; that Juventus has completed this team as a project by spending so much for someone as past as well.

It could be dangerous. You want Ronaldo to be dissolved, of course, but you really do not want him to be excited. He has faced such challenges in the past.

This record has more than proved that.

It's just that he must now do much more than talk about it. He has to deliver, in many ways. He must offer much more than grudges. He must avoid embarrbadment. He must deliver.

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