Cristiano Ronaldo, amid a cloud of allegations, boasts of adulated

So it is not surprising that his name was acclaimed at the announcement of the teams, nor that one or two flashes of this platinum brilliance were greeted by the crowd with a nostalgic rapture, or that he There were those who were waiting for the last – and that was the very last one: Ronaldo would never leave in a group – to show his appreciation.

But, in spite of all the mutual admiration, this should not be read as a story of well-being, as a trip to the memorable past. It was a far more complex evening than Ronaldo, and his fans would have imagined it when United faced Juventus in the Champions League group stage in August

Since then, the German magazine Der Spiegel has released the Kathryn's account. Mayorga, who stated that Ronaldo had raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in June 2009. She filed a lawsuit against him in Nevada; his legal team says that a confidentiality agreement that he signed nine years ago is not valid because of the stress to which it was subject at the time. Ronaldo firmly denied the allegations. he said, before this match, that he was confident that the "truth" would be revealed. The Las Vegas Police Department reopened a badual badault case from 2009.

This is the inevitable context against which Ronaldo, the beloved hero, has returned to Old Trafford; it was in these circumstances that his name was applauded by the two groups of supporters, in which he altrueusement unlearned a photo of pitch invaders as they removed their inevitable ban on the stadium, under which he serenaded himself after leaving the field, smiling. and winking at the camera.

Of course, he has not yet been charged with any crime, let alone convicted. But the allegation is serious enough that it's impossible not to think, after an evening of such ardent worship, at the nature of the support, the fandom, and to wonder up to the point. where this link should stretch.

The language of sport, in these cases, is insufficient. Sports tend towards easy narratives, simplistic causality. A player who has been involved in a sports controversy, irritated by an opponent or criticized by a coach, reacts with the performance: they defend themselves, they silence the skeptics, they leave behind all this thanks to a goal, a victory, a triumph. . Off the field – but around the world – problems can be solved or fixed.