Balls-up! Ronaldo charged with 'improper conduct' by UEFA for 'cojones' Champions League celebration

Cristiano Ronaldo has been charged by UEFA for his crotch-grabbing gesture after his heroic Champions League hat-trick against Atletico Madrid, when he imitated rival coach Diego Simeone’s similar celebration in the first leg.

After securing Juventus’ 3-2 come-from-behind aggregate win in Turin, ensuring they progressed to the tournament quarterfinals despite trailing 2-0 from the opening match, Ronaldo apparently aimed a crotch gesture to fans.

The celebration was made in a similar style to Simeone’s actions when his Atletico side were victorious in the Spanish capital’s Wanda Metropolitano, the venue for this year’s Champions League final.

Argentine Simeone explained he was showing the fans his team had “cojones”, or the literal Spanish translation of "balls" and meaning "guts" or "courage", but was charged with improper conduct by UEFA and then fined €20,000 ($22,700).

Now Ronaldo himself is in hot water for his homage to Simeone, and his case will be heard on March 21. However, given Simeone's fine, it is unlikely he will be banned for Juventus' quarterfinal against Ajax.

"Following a disciplinary investigation conducted by a UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector, in accordance with the Article 55 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (DR)," a UEFA statement read.

It continued: "Disciplinary proceedings have been opened following the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match between Juventus Football Club and Club Atlético de Madrid, played on 12 March in Italy."

Ironically, Simeone magnanimously hailed the Portuguese forward as “the best in the world” and saying he had merely wanted to “show his character” with the celebration.

"He will have seen how I did it at the Wanda Metropolitano [in Madrid] and, like me, was trying to show his character," he said. "Ronaldo is the best in the world, he can put in these performances on big nights."

It completes a bad couple of days for 5-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo, who not only saw his side lose their unbeaten record in Serie A, the 34-year-old inadvertently triggered a protest from fans who demanded a refund for tickets when it was revealed he was to be left out of the squad.

Despite their first league defeat of the season, the Turin club still sit top of the league by 15 points ahead of second-placed Napoli.