Ronaldo itching to make his mark
ALLEGRI: HE UNDERSTANDS ITALY’S DIFFERENT TO SPAIN
Inter coach speaks of a psychological weakness in his team.
Milan
World Player-of-theYear Cristiano Ronaldo will try again to score his first goal for Juventus and Inter Milan will attempt to secure their first league win of the season in the weekend’s Serie A games.
Ronaldo added another prize to his collection on Tuesday when his bicycle kick goal for Real Madrid at Juventus in April won Uefa’s vote for the Goal-of-the-Season.
The goal also earned him a standing ovation from the Juventus crowd at the end of that game and Ronaldo said recently that their reaction partly influenced his decision to join the Turin side in a surprise move in July.
The 33-year-old, however, would probably settle for a tap-in or a penalty to get off the mark for his new side when they visit promoted Parma today.
Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said Ronaldo just needed more time.
“He’s intelligent and understands that Italian football is different to that in Spain,” he said.
Parma have been to the fourth division and back since their 1-0 win over Juventus when the teams last met in 2015.
Shortly after that win, Parma were relegated and subsequently kicked out of the league after going bankrupt.
As often happens in Italian football, they were quickly re-funded, accepted into the fourth tier of the league and managed three straight promotions for the quickest possible return to Serie A.
Juventus, Napoli and surprise package SPAL are the only teams with a maximum six points after two games while Inter, touted as possible contenders before the season, find themselves with one point after a miserable start.
Following a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo in their opening game, they squandered a 2-0 half-time lead against Torino last Sunday and were held 2-2, prompting coach Luciano Spalletti to suggest that the psychological weaknesses they had last season had not gone away.
“These moments have characterised Inter in recent years,” he said. “It also happened last season. – Reuters