Cristiano Ronaldo leaves Chievo ‘keeper Stefano Sorrentino in hospital after nasty collision on Juventus debut

Sorrentino was left with a broken nose and whiplash after his head collided with Ronaldo’s thigh during Juventus’ 3-2 victory at the weekend

Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino felt the full force of Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival in Serie A as he was left with a broken nose and whiplash in a collision with the new Juventus signing that knocked him unconscious.

Ronaldo made his debut in Juventus’ 3-2 victory over Chievo on the opening weekend of Serie A, with the reigning champions having to fight back from 2-1 down to triumph courtesy of a 93rd-minute Federico Bernardeschi goal.

Ronaldo himself was unable to get on the scoresheet, but he certainly made his presence felt in the form of a nasty collision with Sorrentino in second-half injury-time.

As the pair both went for a loose ball, Ronaldo clattered into the goalkeeper and left him motionless on the turf with his teammates diving to his attention. Ronaldo’s teammate, Mario Mandzukic, put the ball into the back of the net for what Juventus thought was the winning goal – only for the Video Assistant Referee to rule it out for a handball by Ronaldo in the build-up – but attentions immediately switch to Sorrentino’s well-being from the collision.

The former Real Madrid forward completed a £89m move to Turin in the summer in what proved to be the biggest deal so far of the summer transfer window, but he would not have expected his league debut quite how it did.

Cristiano Ronaldo collides with Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino (AFP/Getty)

Sorrentino had to be replaced by Andrea Seculin and was taken to hospital, where he was diagnosed with a broken nose and whiplash that left him in a neck brace, while he also suffered a bruised shoulder.

The 39-year-old posted a picture to his Twitter account to show off his wounds, and also said that he received a get-well message from Ronaldo that made him feel slightly better following the injury.

"I received a message of closeness and quick recovery from Cristiano Ronaldo,” he wrote. “Thank you legend!"