Cristiano Ronaldo was subbed off after 55 minutes of Juventus game against AC Milan on Sunday night and the five-time Ballon d'Or winner reportedly stormed out of the stadium after being hauled off.
Juve needed a 77th-minute goal from Paulo Dybala, who came on for Ronaldo before the hour mark, to beat struggling Milan and go back ahead of Inter at the top of the Serie A table.
Sky Sport Italia reported that, after having words with Maurizio Sarri on his way off the pitch and heading straight to the changing rooms, Ronaldo left the ground three minutes before full-time.
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Asked about the incident in his post-match interview Sarri couldn't confirm the reports, saying, "Disrespectful to his teammates? Like I said, I don't know.
"If it's true that he left before the end it is a problem to be resolved with his teammates."
The former Chelsea manager did mention that the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had been struggling with an injury, and he was also replaced during the midweek win over Lokomotiv Moscow.
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However Ronaldo's 'highlights' from the win on Sunday suggest the substitution was more about his form on the night:
Speaking about the injury to his player, Sarri gave praise to the 34-year-old for playing through discomfort for the past month, saying, "I have no problem with Cristiano, he should be thanked because he made himself available despite not being in the best condition.
"In the last month he has had discomfort in his knee and this is a little problem for him."
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The Real Madrid all-time top scorer was clearly annoyed at being substituted on both occasions in the past week but the manager was dismissive of any issue adding: "The important thing is that he made himself available. If he gets angry when he comes out this is part of the game.
"It's only natural a player is going to be irritated about leaving the pitch, especially when he worked so hard to be there.
"All players who are trying to give their best will have at least five minutes of being annoyed when they are substituted, but a coach would in general be much more worried if he didn't seem upset."
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Sarri can be pretty happy with his changes against Moscow and Milan with the Italian champions coming out on top in both games and scoring the winners in both after Ronaldo came off.
It's still far too early to be writing one of the all-time greats off just yet though.
Featured Image Credit:Topics: Football News, Maurizio Sarri, Serie A, AC Milan, Paulo Dybala, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Italy