Juventus coach dispels fears of Ronaldo’s ban

Rome, March 17 (IANS) Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri has said he does not think his Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to be banned from European club competitions for the way he celebrated his team's 3-0 defeat of Atletico Madrid this Tuesday in the UEFA Champions League round-of-16.

Having scored a hat-trick to lead Juventus to turn around a 2-0 first-leg deficit, Ronaldo seemingly imitated the crotch-grabbing celebratory gesture of Atletico's coach Diego Simeone last month in Madrid after his team scored its first goal in an eventual 2-0 victory over Juventus, Efe news reported.

"I think everyone on Tuesday celebrated in their own way. There were 42,000 fans at the stadium - they'd have to ban all of them. It (Ronaldo's celebration) does not seem to be anything special. We do not fear a ban, and there won't be one," Allegri said during a press conference on Saturday evening.

The seven-time defending champion leads the Serie A standings with an 18-point advantage over second-place Napoli with 11 league matches to go.

"Cristiano has played a lot of matches... He will also have two matches with his national team. It would be too much of a risk to make him play," Allegri added.

Since joining the Italian club from Real Madrid during the summer transfer window, Ronaldo has played a total of 36 matches.

Ronaldo, who has scored 19 Serie A goals this season, took part in the decision-making process, according to the coach.

The 34-year-old Ronaldo has been called up for Portugal's upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Ukraine and Serbia on March 22 and 25, respectively.