Juve applause for Ronaldo’s overhead kick could be start of a beautiful friendship
LONDON: When rumours first surfaced that Juventus would sign 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo there was some teasing. The Italian club will have the last laugh if he brings them the Champions League.
Juventus legend Paolo Rossi has no doubts. He told Italian sports paper Gazzetta dello Sport this week: “With Ronaldo, Juve have everything to win the Champions League.
“And he who has doubts because of Ronaldo’s age should look back at some of his matches last season.
“Ronaldo has the physique of a 27-year-old. He is still a nightmare for opponents.
“Cristiano has not chosen Italy to be a luxury retiree. He will play every game to prove to (Real Madrid president) Florentino Perez that selling him was a mistake. Motivation does not age.”
Ronaldo and Juventus president Andrea Agnelli both know that this gamble will be judged largely on whether or not Juventus win the top European club football prize.
They have won the last seven Serie A titles and, although Napoli are getting ever closer to them, Juventus did not need to break their transfer record to maintain domestic dominance.
However no Italian club has won the Champions League since 2010, when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich.
Juventus have since twice reached the final but were beaten by Barcelona in 2015 and by Real Madrid in 2017.
Now they have signed the Champions League’s record scorer and the man who has won it four out of the last five seasons.
Ronaldo has 120 Champions League goals and has won the competition five times in total.
He scored twice in the 2017 final when Juventus were beaten and scored against them last season in the quarter-finals.
That overhead kick rivalled Gareth Bale’s strike in the final for goal of the tournament and, when home supporters inside the Juventus Stadium sportingly applauded, Ronaldo responded by gesturing a humbled thank-you.
Was that the beginning of a beautiful friendship that will end in them reaching next year’s final in Madrid at Atletico’s Metropolitano Stadium?
Ronaldo will be in good attacking company at Juventus.
They already have three top strikers in Paulo Dybala, Douglas Costa and Gonzalo Higuain.
All of them have already taken to social media to publicly welcome the new signing.
It may be that one of them has to be sold to help balance the books – the favourite would be Higuain – but that would still leave Ronaldo alongside the speedy Costa and the clever Dybala – quick, young players to help him slow the ageing process further.
He will be 34 next February and, despite those promises to play on until he is 40 – made to various Spanish media before the Champions League final in 2017 – he did end up choosing his games last season under Zinedine Zidane.
Massimiliano Allegri will happily allow him to do likewise, resting him for league matches.
That comes at a cost. Real Madrid finished 17 points behind champions Barcelona last season as both Ronaldo and the club prioritized European competition.
Juventus might be happy to make the sacrifice if it brings the club and its all-time record signing another European Cup. – Dpa