Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo could avoid a lengthy ban after his dismissal during their Champions League win at Valencia.

Felix Brych showed the veteran a red card for an incident involving Jeison Murillo.

Brych did not see the incident, but was called over by his goal-line assistant Marco Fritz.

Sky Sport Italia reports lip-reading found that Fritz told Brych there was a tug of the hair, so the referee twice asked if it was a red card offence and twice Fritz replied in the affirmative.

This could prove decisive with regards to the extent of the ban, because the referee cannot write in his report that he saw violent conduct, only that it was passed on to him.