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

It is not surprising then that his name was applauded when the teams were announced, or that one or two flashes of this brilliant turntable were greeted with a nostalgic rapture, or that there were those who waited for the last last point: Ronaldo was never going to leave in a group – to show his appreciation.

But despite all the mutual admiration, this should not be read as a story of well-being, a happy trip into the past. It was a far more complex night 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 published the account of Kathryn Mayorga, who stated that Ronaldo had raped her at a Las Vegas hotel in June 2009. She had 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 sexual assault case from 2009.

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

He has of course been charged with no crime, let alone convicted. But the allegation is serious enough that it's impossible not to think, after such an ardent worship party, at the nature of the support, the fandom, and ask for it until the next day. 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 fixed or corrected.