It happened during Poland-Portugal. Before the match, Wojciech Szczęsny, the new Barça goalkeeper, was honored by the Polish fans. He was saying farewell to the national team after the European Championship.
Former Sevilla and PSG player Grzegorz Krychowiak was also honored. Both received the support of the crowd during the warm-up of the match, led by Robert Lewandowski. The Polish players jumped down to the field wearing a jersey with the photo of both players printed on it.
Cristiano Ronaldo's Controversial Remarks to Wojciech Szczesny
Cristiano Ronaldo witnessed the emotive event from the field. Then he had the opportunity to chat with the new Barça goalkeeper, who was his teammate at Juventus.
Then, in the tunnel to the changing rooms, he looked for the new Barça goalkeeper. They hugged each other and Szczęsny confirmed that, indeed, "I've signed for FC Barcelona."
Cristiano Ronaldo asked Szczęsny if he was happy, to which the goalkeeper replied affirmatively. He then said: "Only by retiring were you able to go to a big club."
The statement, as expected, didn't go down well either in Turin, where Szczęsny was the Juventus goalkeeper, or in London, where Szczęsny was the Arsenal goalkeeper.
Fans are fuming at Cristiano Ronaldo in London and Turin
Social media is full of posts against Cristiano Ronaldo from fans who are angry because he desn't consider Juventus or Arsenal to be "big".
Cristiano Ronaldo has the rare gift of disturbing peace wherever he goes. That was not the best way to bring prestige to a club like Juventus, where he stayed for four years.
However, it's a compliment from Barcelona's point of view that Cristiano Ronaldo considers Barça above the others. He probably thinks so because of the bad times he had at Real Madrid trying to surpass Barça and Leo Messi.
Szczęsny was stunned and didn't know what to say to the Portuguese player. Szczęsny and Cristiano Ronaldo hadn't seen each other since the Portuguese player left Juventus in 2021.
Cristiano Ronaldo didn't leave Juventus on good terms... and it shows.