Piers Morgan lashes out at ‘cheap’ BBC over Cristiano Ronaldo jibe in Euro 2024 coverage

Despite Portugal defeating Slovakia on penalties, Cristiano Ronaldo had a terrible night on Monday.

Cristiano Ronaldo despairs after his penalty miss. (Image: Getty)

Following the BBC’s apparent mockery of the Portuguese legend for missing a penalty against Slovakia, Piers Morgan has taken up arms once more in support of Cristiano Ronaldo. Even though his team ultimately prevailed on penalty kicks, it was a terrible experience for the top scorer in international football, who missed numerous opportunities before Jan Oblak stopped him from 12 yards in extra time.

After his mistake, the 39-year-old naturally started crying, and the footage quickly went viral on social media.

Ronaldo’s performance and subsequent antics have dominated the post-match conversation even though his team advanced to a quarter-final match against France. He did, however, defeat Oblak on his second try during the shootout.

Furthermore, Morgan does not think much of the BBC’s attempt to mock the legendary Real Madrid player. When they captioned one of their replays, “Missiano Penaldo,” the contentious TV host took aim at X.

Who was behind this, he wrote. “Why did they think it was acceptable to make such crass fun of a game legend like @Cristiano during an international tournament broadcast on a publicly-funded broadcaster?”

The 59-year-old Morgan further questioned whether Lionel Messi, Ronaldo’s longtime nemesis, would have received the same treatment: “Would the BBC have done that to Messi or any other great?” He continued. Not at all. Why then did they harm Ronaldo?

Who did this? Why did they think it’s OK to mock a legend of the game like @Cristiano in such a cheap way during a publicly-funded broadcaster’s output of an international tournament? Would the BBC have done that to Messi or any other great? No. So why did they do it to Ronaldo? https://t.co/fMTlqyIX7p

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) July 2, 2024

Piers Morgan infamously interviewed Ronaldo back in November 2022. (Image: TalkTV)

At first, a lot of people wondered if the caption’s image was real or had been altered for social media purposes. However, Dan Walker, a former BBC broadcaster, seemed to validate Morgan’s concerns later on, referring to the piece as “perfect penalty punnery.”

Walker seemed to identify the offender as well, adding, “I hear it came from Gary Pask’s mind.” He and I collaborated on Football Focus once, so I’m sure he’s been sitting on this for a long time.

Walker also retaliated against other users who said the Beeb ought to be ashamed of the joke, asking them “Why? It’s a silly small joke. When he missed (at the 2022 World Cup), they also utilised HARRY PAIN. That is the depth of it.

Of course, Morgan’s tirades on Twitter and his defence of Ronaldo are nothing new. Following their now-famous interview in November 2022, the forward abruptly left Manchester United, causing him to relocate to Saudi Arabia.

However, even the icon’s closest buddy would have to concede that he’s currently finding it difficult to match the skill that has solidified his reputation as an all-time great. In international competitions, he has now gone eight games without scoring, the longest stretch of his career.

When Express Sport contacted the BBC, they declined to comment.