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The Bianconeri triumphed 3-2 on the night but bowed out at the last 16 stage on away goals after a dramatic encounter in Turin.

"These are his games," the Juventus coach told reporters. This wasn't his game, though – not even close. The Corriere dello Sport even went so far as to say that the Old Lady had been betrayed by Ronaldo.

Of course, in the grand scheme of things, his poor performance is a mere footnote in Juve's tale of Champions League woe, which stretches all the way back to 1996. 

They've lost five finals in the interim. Now, they've been eliminated in the last 16 for the second consecutive season. In 2018-19, they were dumped out in the quarters by Ajax.

It wasn't meant to be like this. Not with Ronaldo. He's Mr. Champions League. With him on board, a team that reached two finals in three seasons between 2015 and 2017 looked poised to take that agonising final step. Instead, they're further away from the trophy than when he arrived.

Despite losing 2-1 to Porto in the first leg, Juve had tried valiantly to avoid even thinking about another early exit.

"It's our duty to go through to the next round," Juve director and former midfielder Pavel Nedved had told Sky Sport Italia beforehand. Instead, Juve are out of Europe and, this time around, they won't even have the consolation prize of a Scudetto.

The Serie A title already looks lost, for the first time in 10 years, with Inter currently 10 points ahead of the third-placed Bianconeri at the top of the table. Even a possible Coppa Italia win – Juve meet Atalanta in the final – isn't going to cut it for Pirlo.

Indeed, a penny for Andrea Agnelli's thoughts right now. The Juventus president didn't sanction a €340 million (£292m/$404m) deal for Ronaldo to see his side knocked out of Europe by Ajax, Lyon and now Porto. 

No wonder the European Club Association (ECA) chairman wants more games and guarantees for the big boys in a revamped Champions League; the Old Lady needs all the help she can get in Europe right now.