You Won't Be Able To Watch The First 15 Minutes Of Cristiano Ronaldo's Debut

On Saturday afternoon Cristiano Ronaldo will finally make his Juventus debut but fans in the UK will have to wait 15 minutes longer than everyone else to see the five time Ballon d'Or winner play for the Old Lady.

There's still something pretty weird about Cristiano Ronaldo playing for Juventus. It's not just that he's playing for the Serie A champions but it's the fact that he isn't playing for Real Madrid which seems just as weird.

Ronaldo was the perfect fit for Real when he went there in 2009 and by the time he left the Bernabeu this summer he'd only become an even more perfect player for Los Blancos.

The 33 year old was very much a Galactico signing but in winning four Ballon d'Ors with the club and etching himself as one of the two best players ever he became ever more of a Galactico in his nine years at the club, also becoming their top goalscorer of all time.

But he decided to move on after last season's Champions League win and he cost Juventus £80 million. This afternoon he will make his debut in the Serie A opener against Chievo.

Italian football is now on Eleven Sports in the UK, rather than BT, and the game will be free on Facebook but as per UK law they can't show the first 15 minutes:

The law was brought into the country when the Premier League started in 1992 and was put in place to make sure that no 3pm kick offs could ever be televised as there was a worry that would reduce attendances.

As fans up and down the country know there won't be football on tv till 5.15 it means they can go to their local game and get home in time for the football, it makes a lot of sense. Eleven Sports clearly don't think so.

Juventus will be hoping Ronaldo can lead them to European success. Image: PA Images

Serie A had been shown on BT Sports in the last few years but Eleven won the rights to show Italian football in the summer and also took La Liga rights from Sky Sports.

It means they'll be less easy access for UK fans to watch European football, and they'll need another subscription, but Eleven are at least showing one game per league free on Facebook every week.

Topics: Football News, Serie A, Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, Italy

Ryan Sidle

Ryan is a writer for SPORTbible. He covers all sport from football, formula one, cricket, rugby, tennis, athletics, mma and wrestling. He obviously hates YOUR football team and has no interest in synchronised swimming.

@Sidler28