Ronaldo turns focus to pitch after snub
Hectic schedule as Juventus face three games in a week
Cristiano Ronaldo turns his focus back to Juventus’s quest for a treble this season today after losing out to Luka Modric for Fifa’s Best Player of the Year award.
Five-time Ballon d’Or winner Ronaldo skipped the awards ceremony in London on Monday as his former Real Madrid teammate Luka Modric beat him for the award.
The 33-year-old Portuguese star also lost out to Liverpool’s Mohammad Salah for the Puskas Award for the best goal.
The Italian champions face a heavy week in Turin with three games in their Allianz Stadium in the space of seven days.
After today’s game against 18th-placed Bologna, who shocked Roma 2-0 at the weekend, Juventus play Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli in a top-ofthe table clash on Saturday.
Juventus have had a perfect start to the season with five wins and 15 points — three points ahead of Napoli.
Allegri’s side also play Swiss club Young Boys in the Champions League a week on Tuesday, a game which Ronaldo will miss after his controversial sending off against Valencia in Spain.
Napoli host promoted Parma, before their trip to Turin, with an eye on their Champions League game against Liverpool in Naples.
“We won there [Juventus] last season and still finished second,” said Napoli striker Lorenzo Insigne. “If we don’t win the midweek game with Parma, then the result with Juve is irrelevant, so we have to take it one at a time.”
Under-pressure Roma host promoted Frosinone looking for a boost after slipping to 14th with their weekend defeat in Bologna.
Coach Eusebio Di Francesco has reportedly been given a week to save his job, starting against the newcomers from outside Rome, before the city derby against Lazio at the weekend.
Frosinone are second from the bottom of the table with 12 goals conceded, including two to Juventus last weekend.
“At the end of the year when the points are counted the matches like the one in Frosinone you don’t remember immediately, but you know how important they were,” said Allegri.
Roma then host Czech club Viktoria Plzen in the Champions League next week, having lost their opener to holders Real Madrid.
Meanwhile, Inter Milan faced a tough task against Fiorentina in the San Siro yesterday with coach Luciano Spalletti serving a touchline ban for his over-exuberant goal celebration against Sampdoria.