Piers Morgan has hit out at the BBC after the broadcaster showed a controversial graphic which poked fun at Cristiano Ronaldo after his penalty miss against Slovenia. Portugal advanced to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 with a penalty shootout triumph, but they did it the hard way.

Liverpool's Diogo Jota won a penalty for his side in the first half of extra-time and the stage looked set for Ronaldo to score his first goal of the tournament and grab the headlines once more. However, the superstar forward did steal the spotlight - just not in the way he'd have hoped.

Jan Oblak denied the Al-Nassr striker from 12 yards and Ronaldo was seen in floods of tears during the interval. He would then produce an ice-cold spot-kick in the shootout to help send his nation to the next round, but not before the BBC took a cheeky dig at his earlier misfortune.

Piers Morgan Criticises the BBC

Presenter and Ronaldo superfan has slammed the graphic

During the broadcaster's analysis of the match, Ronaldo's penalty misery was a big talking point. When the pundits in the studio were looking at the incident, a graphic popped up on the screen for viewers at home to see. It labelled Ronaldo as 'Misstiano Penaldo'.

Piers Morgan, upon seeing this nickname, took to social media to express his disgust at the corporation joking about one of the greatest players of all time. Morgan wrote:

"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?"

The presenter of 'Piers Morgan Uncensored' famously conducted an explosive interview with Ronaldo during the Portuguese star's time at Manchester United. He leapt to the defence of his past interviewee while asking: "Would the BBC have done that to Messi or any other great? No. So why did they do it to Ronaldo?" View Morgan's post below:

He isn't the only public figure to take issue with the unflattering nickname, as former England captain John Terry also slammed the BBC for their treatment of Ronaldo. Fans on social media were split in their views, as some found it funny and others felt outraged.

Ronaldo's Euro 2024 Struggles

He is yet to score a goal

Roberto Martinez has continued to show faith in his biggest star despite Ronaldo's struggles in front of goal in Germany. While he did slot home his penalty in the shootout success against Slovenia, he is yet to score during a match at the tournament.

This isn't through a lack of effort, either, as the 39-year-old has taken more shots than any other player at Euro 2024 to date. Ronaldo has failed to score from 20 efforts on goal, which is uncharacteristic for the greatest goalscorer ever to play the beautiful game.

Portugal will now face France in a mouth-watering clash on Friday as Ronaldo will meet the expected heir to his throne, Kylian Mbappe. A semi-final against either Germany or Spain is at stake and the attacker will be hoping to find the net finally.