Juve coach Allegri impressed by Ronaldo’s debut
MILAN: Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said he was impressed with Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut for the Serie A champions against Chievo on Saturday and that the only thing missing was a goal.
The coach also suggested that Ronaldo’s team mates could have been more generous in supplying the Portuguese forward with the ball in a match Juve won 3-2 thanks to a late goal.
“Physically, Ronaldo held out well on his debut considering he has only been training with us for seven days and he did really well,” Allegri said.
“He pulled their defence around, he moved between the lines and, on several occasions, he wasn’t served with the ball,” he added.
“You can already see that he is a different player. I was struck by how easily he has blended into the team and he was very happy with the win at the end.”
The five-times world player of the year, signed from Real Madrid in July, spent most of the match on the left side of the attack.
Ronaldo, 33, nearly grabbed an early Serie A goal when he shot narrowly wide from the edge of the area shortly after Juve’s opener.
In the second half, he was foiled when Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino made a brilliant onehanded save from his dipping shot and again when the goalkeeper blocked his free kick.
“He played a good match but Sorrentino got in the way,” said Allegri.