Cristiano Ronaldo was left out of the Juventus side and then denied a last-gasp winner after coming on as a substitute after they had thrown away a two-goal lead at Udinese.
The Portuguese star's stoppage time header was ruled out for offside in a dramatic 2-2 draw in his team's opening Serie A match of the season.
But it was Ronaldo on the bench at the Dacia Arena in Udine amid rumours he is looking for a way out of the Italian giants that sparked most interest.
Sky Sport Italia claimed that Ronaldo asked not to be picked in the starting line-up as he still hopes to leave the 36-time Italian champions before the end of the month, when the transfer window closes.
But club director Pavel Nedved insisted Ronaldo will stay and his omission was a "shared decision" between Ronaldo and coach Massimiliano Allegri.
"You shouldn't try to create sensationalised stories where there aren't any," Nedved told broadcaster DAZN.
"He isn't at peak fitness, and the coach tried to pick the best possible line-up for now. The decisions were made in order to be as competitive as possible today.
"He is absolutely staying at Juventus."
After the match Allegri played down the controversy, saying that he was always planning to bring Ronaldo on.
"Cristiano is okay," he said. "It's the start of the season and seeing the condition everyone is in and thinking about the game, especially at the beginning I put him on the bench knowing that there would be a need for him to come on.
"He made himself available, like everyone. He played well, even scored a goal but unfortunately it didn't stand."
Juve looked to be cruising to victory when Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado put them two ahead midway through the first half.
But two second-half blunders from goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny allowed Udinese to take a point through Roberto Peryra's penalty and a Gerard Deulofeu strike.
