Ron ready for Serie A show
FRESH START All eyes on Portuguese star who will make his debut amid sombre backdrop in Italy
MILAN: Cristiano Ronaldo will make his much-anticipated Serie A debut for Juventus who open their campaign for an eighth straight Italian league title on Saturday against a sombre backdrop of a country in mourning following the Genoa bridge disaster.
The five-time Ballon d’or winner was the star signing of the summer season arriving amid great pomp and ceremony following a 100 million euro (USD 117 million) deal from Real Madrid.
But it could be a low-key start for the 33-year-old Portuguese superstar against minnows Chievo in Verona’s Stadio Bentegodi on Saturday on a day of national mourning for victims of the Morandi bridge tradegy in the north-western port city.
The emotional impact of the disaster has led to the postponement of Serie A games involving local teams Sampdoria and Genoa who had been due to open their campaigns against Fiorentina and AC Milan.
But all other games will go ahead starting on Saturday — the day of the 38 victims’ funerals — with last season’s top two teams Juventus and Napoli in action.
A minute’s silence will be held before each match with the players taking to the pitch wearing black armbands.
Much is expected of Ronaldo’s presence in the Italian league this season after the low of Italy missing out on qualifying for the World Cup in Russia. “He’s going to raise the level of the championship,” said Italian legend Dino Zoff. “Everyone can benefit. With Ronaldo all eyes will be on us and Serie A can regain ground. His purchase will result in the arrival of other big names to Serie A.”
Midfielder Sami Khedira said he was eager to play alongside Ronaldo again, and forget his own dire World Cup campaign where Germany crashed out in the group stage.
“I can’t wait to start the new season, and it’s also fantastic to be able to play with Ronaldo again after the time we shared together at Real Madrid,” Khedira said on Instagram. “Despite the excitement for the new season though, this was one of the most difficult summers of my career.
“After a good season at Juventus in which I scored nine goals, I played my two worst games at the World Cup and it was awful.”
As Ronaldo takes centrestage at his new team the surprise could be in defence with Andrea Barzagli and new signing Joao Cancelo vying for the role of right-back. World Cup winner Blaise Matuidi has just returned to action, and coach Massimiliano Allegri could play new midfield signing Emre Can and Khe-
reeling in the absence of galactic stars for the last decade. Italian football was mired in match-fixing and corruption allegations and the league’s image was severely dented as a number of top teams,
two greatest footballers of the last decade and there are huge expectations from him. A major impact is expected on gate receipts at all clubs, which was already high for matches
that fans have from Ronaldo’s arrival were best summed up by former manager Fabio Capello. “Finally the world is talking about the Italian league again. In the 80s and 90s we represented the top. Then we lost our way and weren’t capable of investing in infrastructure.” successful country after Spain in Champions League having produced 12 winners so far (Spain has 18). AC Milan is the second most successful club in the competition with seven titles. Not long ago, the best players in the world plied their trade there, including Diego Maradona (Napoli), Zinedine Zidane (Juventus), Zlatan Ibrahimovic dira alongside Miralem Pjanic and Juan Cuadrado.
Napoli turn back to their quest for a first title since the days of Argentine star Diego Maradona in 1987 and 1990 after pushing Juventus to the line last season. including Juventus, were penalised for their alleged involvement. As a result, many of the big stars were reluctant to sign up with sides that were penalised for corruption and relegated to lower divisions. involving Juventus. Tickets are selling like hot cakes and at a higher cost, which has prompted Juventus fans to protest as they will be forced to shell out more for away matches. Merchandising too has seen a spike. FABIO CAPELLO (Juventus, Inter, AC Milan), Ronaldo Luis Nazaria de Lima (Inter, Milan), Ronaldinho (Milan), Ruud Gullit (Milan, Sampdoria), Marco van Basten (Milan) and Frank Rijkaard (Milan).
when we had two teams in the Champions League final. We’re not back to those days yet. But I feel like saying the days of skinny cows are over,” said Claudio Ranieri. live on Sony Ten 1, 1HD, Ten 2 & 2HD,
live on Sony Ten 2 & Ten 2HD, (Sunday).
After claiming a record 91 points for a league runner-up, Maurizio Sarri exited the club for Chelsea with Italian Carlo Ancelotti making his return to Serie A for the first time in nearly a decade.