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Alvaro Morata was replaced by Cristiano Ronaldo in the 60th minute
Massimiliano Allegri left Cristiano Ronaldo out of his starting XI when Juventus drew against Udinese in their Serie A opener.
Reports suggested that Ronaldo requested not to be selected due to ongoing speculation about his future. External-link
Pavel Nedved, Juve's director, denied the rumors and said it was a "shared choice" not to launch the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Nedved stated to broadcaster DAZN that he is "absolutely staying at Juventus."
Alvaro Morata was replaced by Ronaldo, 36. He thought he had won a stoppage-time goal from Federico Chiesa’s cross, but the video assistant referee ruled it out.
Massimiliano Allegri, Juve coach, also dismissed the decision to place Ronaldo on the bench and said the same thing to the same broadcaster: "Cristiano's OK.
"It's the beginning of the season, and seeing everyone in such a bad state and thinking about the game, especially at this point, I placed him on the bench, knowing there would be a need to bring him on.
"He was available to everyone. He played well and even scored a goal, but it wasn't enough.
After a long VAR review, Ronaldo's head was ruled out
Morata was chosen by Allegri, the former boss, to lead a line that included Juan Cuadrado and Paulo Dybala. Both were on target.
Within three minutes Dybala had opened the scoring. Cuadrado then doubled the lead with an excellent low drive.
Roberto Pereyra scored a goal for Udinese, with a penalty against his old club after Wojciech Zczesny's unsporting lunge on Tolgay Aronslan.
Dramatically, the hosts evened out as former Everton and Watford winger Gerard Deulofeu scored in the 83rd minute. This was after VAR overturned an on-field ruling that had been ruled out.
