Juve’s response to the Ronaldo rape allegations was to call him ‘a great champion’ but the important thing is to judge on facts
As the Uefa Nations League weekender rolls on from Friday into Tuesday it is hard not to luxuriate a little in the glow of international football, to feel fuzzy and loved-up still from that sun-bleached World Cup. The Nations League has been criticised for its fiddly nature but whatever the background noise there is an undying grandeur to these games. Netherlands v Germany remains one of the great European retro-hate matches, and on Monday night Spain, still stung from the summer, still effortlessly talented, will host England in Andalusia.
There is one significant absence from this spectacle. Cristiano Ronaldo did not play for Portugal against Poland, nor will he in Sunday’s friendly against Scotland. Officially Ronaldo is being rested. Unofficially he is mounting his defence, public and legal, to allegations of rape and physical assault.
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