World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 81

JUVENTUS

July, hiring RonaldofromRealMadridin
a€ 340 milliondeal,the ideaseemed
tobethathewouldrepresentthe
“icing”onthelavishJuvecake, the
guywhowouldmakethatultimate
“difference”.Thatdifferenceandthat
icinghada very clearname– the
ChampionsLeague.
ThatChampionsLeaguefailure
probablyweighedheavilytoo on the
surpriseJuventusdecisionto part
companywithcoachMassimilianoAllegri.
You couldarguethatfiveconsecutive
SerieA titles,fourCoppasItaliaandtwo
(losing)ChampionsLeague finalsinfive
seasonsrepresents goodenough
groundstorenew a fruitfulworking
relationship.NotthisyearinTurin,
apparently...
Asfor Juve’sdomesticdominance,
perhapsthebest comment on that
camerecentlyfromCzechcoach
ZdenekZemanin an interview with
LaGazzettadelloSportinwhichhe
said: “For eightyearsnow,theleague
titlecontestisoverbeforeit haseven
begun.”
Intruth,thiswasadisappointing
SerieA seasoninwhichnosidecame
evenremotelyclosetochallenging
Juventus.Theonlyrealisticpretenders
tothe crown,namelyNapoliand
Internazionale,fordifferentreasons
underperformedinthefaceofa
relentless Juventus.Ineffect,Juve
encounteredonlytworealsetbacksin
thecourseofthe season– their3-0
CoppaItalia,quarter-finalelimination
byAtalanta in January and,ofcourse,
muchmore significantly, theirshock
ChampionsLeagueeliminationbyAjax.
Carlo Ancelotti,inhisfirstseasonin
Naples,didnotmatchtheperformance
ofhispredecessor, Maurizio Sarri.Initial
hopesthathemightopenupa new
“cycle”atNapoliwerenotrealised.
Perhaps,inAncelotti’s secondseason,
hissquadwill deliverthequalityfootball
ofwhich it seemsmorethancapable.
Napoli,atleast,hadtheirChampions
Leaguequalificationwrappeduplong
before theendof theseason.Whichis
morethancanbesaidforInter, who
wentright down to thelastminuteof
theirfinal-game2-1 winover Empoli
before securingtheirfourth-placefinish
behindJuventus,NapoliandAtalanta.
Inhindsight,youwouldhaveto
conclude thatInter’scontractrenewal
differenceswith their star strikerMauro
Icardicostboththemandtheplayer
dear. WithInternazionalereplacing
LucianoSpallettiwithformerJuventus,
ItalyandChelseacoach, AntonioConte,
itwouldappearthattheIcardifracas
certainlydidSpallettinofavours.One
wayor another, thissummerlooks

certaintobedominatedwith talkofall

thetopcoachingjobsinItalianfootball.

Milanhavealreadypartedcompany

withGennaroGattuso,Romahave

saidthankstocaretaker bossClaudio

Ranieri(havingalreadysackedEusebio

DiFrancescoinMarch)and replaced

himwith PauloFonseca, whilethe

biggestjobofall,thatatJuventus,

isupforgrabs.

Thiswas,too,a season marked

bya disappointingItalianshowingin

Europeancompetition,with no Italian

ABOVE:Failure...

JuvelosetoAjax

teammakingittothe semi-finalstages

ofeitherthe ChampionsLeagueor

EuropaLeague.

Asthe curtaincamedownonthe

season,hats offto 38 -year-oldAndrea

BarzagliofJuventus,to 37-year-old

EmilianoMoretti of Torinoandto

40-year-oldSergioPellissierof

Chievo, allofwhomretiredin May.

Hatsoff,too,toSampdoria’sFabio

Quagliarellawho,atthe ripe oldageof

36,toppedthe SerieA scoringcharts

with 2 6 goals- five clearofRonaldo.

“Foreightyearsnow,theleaguetitle

contestisoverevenbeforeithasbegun”

FormerRomacoach ZdenekZeman

LEFT:SuperCup...

Juvealsowonthe

ItalianSuperCup