When Ronaldo was chided for drinking 'Coke': a look at the past as Juventus loses to Barca

Football maestro Cristiano Ronaldo is not just an inspiration to football lovers around the world. His fitness and athleticism that has given him a legendary reputation on the football field in his one-and-a-half decade long career, has also inspired athletes across all fields. Among them, Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli's name deserves mention.

Interestingly, there was a time when this football great was chided for drinking Coca-Cola at breakfast. Without further ado, let's find out who asked 'CR7' to mend his ways.

The time Cristiano Ronaldo was confronted for sipping Coke

Cristiano Ronaldo may not be fond of junk food and soft drinks today, but that was not the case during his younger days. Years ago, when he had kept a couple of Coke bottles aside while addressing the media, the then-emerging talent from Portugal was asked to quit consuming soft drinks and that too in a stern manner.

The incident happened during Cristiano Ronaldo's days at Manchester United. Ronaldo was known to be fond of Coke and in fact, was spotted taking a sip while at their Carrington training base. Ronaldo's then-unnamed Manchester United teammate was so annoyed with the Portuguese footballer's habit that he turned matters physical in order to question Ronaldo. 

Looking back, the move definitely did wonders for Cristiano as he now boasts of having a decorated career with  674 club goals and 109 international goals to his name, and a Euro Cup win. Ronaldo had led Portugal to their maiden Euro Cup win in 2016 with a 1-0 win over France. The win marked Portugal's first major tournament title. They had lost the Euro Cup 2004 finals 1-0 to Greece and a younger Ronaldo was seen crying inconsolably. Today, the Portuguese star can boast of five Ballon d'Or awards to his name. 

Juventus vs Barcelona: Cristiano Ronaldo-led side taste bitter defeat

But no matter how great a player is, there are always days that are bad and defeats that help them grow stronger. For Cristiano Ronaldo, who is currently leading Juventus and his team, a humiliating 0-3 defeat against FC Barcelona in the Joan Gamper trophy match at Estadi Johan Cruyff on Sunday was one such moment.

The home team, FC Barcelona, had some players missing from their starting lineup. With Sergio Aguero, new signing Eric Garcia and teenager Pedri absent, coach Ronald Koeman fielded Memphis, Braithwaite, and Antoine Griezmann to attack in the club's 4-3-3 formation. While Aguero was down with an injury, Garcia and Pedri missed the match to represent Spain at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. 

FC Barcelona's midfield had the likes of Sergio Busquets providing pivotal support to Yusuf Demir and Sergi Roberto. The defence comprised of Serginho Dest, Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and R Araujo.

Barcelona took the lead in the third minute with a counter-attack in which Yusuf Demir assisted Memphis Depay as the Dutch footballer's left-foot strike beat Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny. Demir, who was looking dangerous in the match later won back possession inside the Juventus area before taking a shot that was saved by Szczęsny. 

The Spanish club that had Neto guarding the goal made a couple of saves to his credit. He kept out Alvaro Morata's powerful left-footed effort and fully stretched to push Ronaldo's 30-yard free-kick to safety before the break. The goalkeeper then denied Juventus substitute, Federico Chiesa, any opportunity to score.

Barcelona doubled their lead in the 57th minute when a corner from Memphis was headed past substitute Juventus goalkeeper Mattia Perin by Martin Braithwaite. The Juventus goalkeeper was beaten again in the final minute of the match when substitute Puig turned inside the area to fire a left-footed shot into the top corner of the net.

The victory saw  FC Barcelona lift the Joan Gamper trophy for the 44th time and ninth consecutive year. Up next for the Blaugrana will be a visit from Real Sociedad in their opening league game on August 15. Juventus, on the other hand, will kickstart their Serie A campaign in two weeks time.