Allegri relaxed over Ronaldo goal drought

– Cristiano Ronaldo (right) faces Sassuolo tomorrow still chasing his first goal for Italian champions Juventus before he returns to Spain for the first time in the Champions League.

Bolstered by five-time winner Ronaldo, Juventus begin their quest for the Champions League title which has eluded them since 1996 in Valencia next Wednesday.

Despite a seventh straight Serie A title last season the Turin giants plunged into the red with a €19.2 million loss as a result of their European quarterfinal exit.

Serie A returns after a twoweek international break with

Milan

former Real Madrid player Ronaldo having skipped Portugal duty to focus on his new club, just as his team-mate, Croatia’s World Cup runner-up Mario Mandzukic, did.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri says he is not concerned that Ronaldo has failed to find the net despite 23 shots at goal in three games.

“It takes time. We’ll all be fresher after the break and that’s when the real season starts,” said Allegri.

Allegri will be keen to rotate his side with a crowded schedule of seven games in 21 days, and defender Andrea Barzagli sidelined with a calf problem.

Argentine Paolo Dybala – Juventus’s top scorer last season – and Brazilian Douglas Costa look set to start on the bench.

Napoli, Roma and Inter Milan also have Champions League games on their minds.

Roma host Chievo tomorrow after their loss to AC Milan before the break, and ahead of a trip to Spain to take on holders Real Madrid.

Inter Milan host Parma today before playing Tottenham Hotspur in the San Siro in their first European game since the 2011/2012 season.

Luciano Spalletti’s Inter – with last year’s star forward Mauro Icardi fighting to shake off a muscular injury – are coming off a 3-0 win over Bologna after taking just a point from their first two games.

Carlo Ancelotti will look to put his first defeat as Napoli coach behind him when last season’s runners-up host Fiorentina before playing Red Star in Belgrade on Tuesday.

AC Milan head to Cagliari in Sardinia with former Juventus forward Gonzalo Higuain also waiting to score his first goal for his new club. –