Udinese hosted Juventus in a frantic clash in the north of Italy as Serie A announced its start with a bang! Juve threw away a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 with Udinese, with Juve substitute Cristiano Ronaldo nearly snatching a win for the below-par visitors.The Old Lady started the match in perfect fashion, with Paulo Dybala smashing home the opener inside the opening two minutes of play. Juan Cuadrado doubled the lead for the yelow-and-blue-clad visitors as Massimiliano Allegri’s second debut in charge of Juventus looked rosy.Udinese pull off a brave comeback to surprise Juventus 💪🦸♂️ pic.twitter.com/xQTcG3zzoS— 433 (@433) August 22, 2021 The home side could feel a little hard-done-by to be trailing 2-0 after a strong performance, having enjoyed much of the possession, but the quality of Juve had made the difference.Udinese appeared to come out with a point to prove after the break, and they didn’t have to wait long before their chance came.Cristiano Ronaldo started the match on the bench and thus prompted a whole new wave of speculation about his future.Goal annulled to Cristiano Ronaldo with Juventus, would have given the victory to his team coming off the bench pic.twitter.com/BtKQA7bXCZ— • (@Dre6ii) August 22, 2021 Ronaldo did eventually come off the bench to replace Alvaro Morata with an hour of the game played and Juventus 2-1 ahead at Dacia Arena in Udine.Ronaldo’s omission from the Juve starting eleven starts a frenzy but club vice-president says CR7 is stayingHowever, the brave hosts mounted a second-half comeback to make it 2-2 with seven minutes left with former Barcelona and Everton winger Gerard Deulofeu notching the equalizer.Ronaldo thought he’d won it for Juventus when he headed in a Manuel Locatelli cross in deep in injury time. He celebrated wildly by taking off his shirt only to see the goal disallowed after a VAR check. The match ended in a 2-2 draw with TV cameras zooming in on a sarcastic Ronaldo smile.SERIE A – ROUND 1SaturdayInter – Genoa 4-0 (2-0)/Skriniar 6, Calhanoglu 14, Vidal 74, Dzeko 87/Verona – Sassuolo 2-3 (0-1)/Zaccagni 71, 90 – Raspadori 32, Djuricic 51, Traore 77/SundayBologna – Salernitana 3-2 (0-0)/De Silvestri 59, Arnautovic 75, De Silvestri 77 – Bonazzoli 52, Coulibaly 70/Udinese – Juventus 2-2 (0-2)/Pereyra 51 pen, Deulofeu 83 – Dybala 3, Cuadrado 23/21:45 (1.30) Napoli (5.70) Venezia (9.00)21:45 (1.85) Roma (3.60) Fiorentina (4.30)Monday19:30 (2.05) Cagliari (3.45) Spezia (3.60)21:45 (3.80) Sampdoria (3.45) Milan (2.00)
