Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his Juventus substitutions, confirming Maurizio Sarri's assertion he was "playing injured."
There has been talk of a rift between the pair since Ronaldo was taken off after 55 minutes in the game against Milan last week, and Ronaldo went straight down the tunnel, got changed and drove home before the match had even ended.
He had been substituted in the Champions League match with Lokomotiv Moscow only a few days earlier.
Cristiano Ronaldo has broken his silence on the controversy surrounding his Juventus substitutions, confirming Maurizio Sarri's assertion he was "playing injured."
There has been talk of a rift between the pair since Ronaldo was taken off after 55 minutes in the game against Milan last week, and Ronaldo went straight down the tunnel, got changed and drove home before the match had even ended.
He had been substituted in the Champions League match with Lokomotiv Moscow only a few days earlier.
Yet speaking to Portuguese newspaper A Bola after Portugal's 2-0 against Luxembourg, in which Ronaldo scored, the striker acknowledged Sarri was right to replace him.
"In the last three weeks I have been limited. Everyone knows that I don't like to be substituted, but there was no problem in my gestures after the change. I tried to help Juventus by playing injured.
"No one likes to be replaced, but I understand it, because I wasn't well in those two games. I wasn't 100%."
This confirms Sarri's explanation as to why he took Ronaldo off so early.
The coach told the media after the 1-0 win that Ronaldo had played through injury for the team and the striker has had knee problems for the last month.