"Cristiano, given the performance, is allowed to celebrate as he wishes," Emre Can defends Ronaldo's celebration

What's the story?

Juventus midfielder Emre Can joins a list of football personalities who have come out in defence of Cristiano Ronaldo for his 'cojones' celebration during the Old Lady's 3-0 win over Atletico Madrid in their Champions League Round of 16 fixture.

In case you didn't know...

Ronaldo, who joined Juventus in the same summer as Can, did not take long to adapt to Italian football, having scored nineteen Serie A goals so far, only two away from league top scorer Fabio Quagliarella.

Adding to his goal tally in all competitions, the Portuguese talisman netted three goals against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League to propel the Old Lady to the quarter-finals of the competition.

After scoring the hat-trick, the five-time Ballon d'Or winner was seen running over to the away fans and mimicking Atletico manager Diego Simeone's 'cojones' celebration from the first leg of the fixture.

While Simeone was given a €20,000 fine by UEFA, the organisation is yet to make a decision on Ronaldo's punishment.

The heart of the matter

Can has defended his teammate amidst rumours of a Champions League ban, while hailing him for being grounded.

Speaking to German newspaper Bild, he said (via The Irish Mirror), "Of Ronaldo I can say that he is a very quiet type, with his feet firmly on the ground. He doesn't show off his star-like appearance and impresses me a lot, he is the first to say hello, thank you for everything."

"He does not behave so only with us teammates, but also with all the masseurs, coaches, etc. People would be surprised to see how normal he is. I don't want to evaluate [Ronaldo's] gesture, but after that of Simeone in the first leg, it must be said that someone like Ronaldo, given the performance, is allowed to respond and celebrate as he wishes.

"Everyone in the stadium knew to whom the exultation was addressed. I have a great time with him, I was delighted with his hat-trick because the first leg wasn't easy for him. He had to swallow several bitter mouthfuls and wanted to answer, but the way he did it, with that hat-trick, is incredible," said the German midfielder.

What's next?

Juventus will return to action on March 30 when they face Empoli in the Serie A.