World Soccer Presents - Rise of Ronaldo (2022)

RISEOFRONALDO 89

. ,
nonon-pressingteamhaswonthe
ChampionsLeagueinthe past decade.
Recently, as LionelMessi’s contributions
inthatregardhavewaned,Barcelona
havestruggledagainst elite sides,
sufferingheavydefeats to Juventus,
Liverpool,BayernMunichandParis
Saint-Germaininrecentseasons.Juve’s
problemsinthe ChampionsLeague
havebeena directresultofthe lack
ofprotectionaffordedtheirmidfield,
causingittobecomestretched.
Thenthereis theimpactRonaldo
hason therestofthe squad.The
evidenceofPortugalsuggestsheand
BrunoFernandesdonotnecessarily
linkupwell– andwillRonaldoallow
somebodyelsetotakethepenalties?
Fernandesscored 13 timesfromthe
spotlastseason,missingjust once.
Thepresenceofsomany attacking
playersinthesquadmaymeanPaul
Pogbaoperatingdeeper, butthatisnot
thepositionthatgetsthebest outof

against Switzerland,whenhavingbeen

superbgoingforwardhe wasresponsible

fortheequaliser, suggest.And what

doesthismeanforthedevelopment

ofMasonGreenwoodand,toa lesser

extent,MarcusRashford?

HavingalreadysignedJadonSancho

andRaphaelVaranetoaugmentan

alreadyhighly-giftedsquad, United

havegreat individuals,andtheywillwin

gamesbecausetheyhaveexcellencein

bothboxes. Butthequestioniswhether

theywillwinsufficientgames,and

. s
final againstVillarrealwasaclassic
exampleofhow they canbefrustrated

• andultimatelybeaten–byan
  ostensiblyweakerteamableto
  frustrate theminmidfield.
  It’shardtoseehowRonaldoresolves

thatproblem,buthehasgenerateda

hugeamountofsocial mediainteraction

and,atleastin theshortterm,his

presenceshouldplacate a fan base

thatendedlast seasonfuriouswiththe

ownership.Froma purelyfootball point

ofview,though,heisa bafflingsigning.

“Thereissurelyamajorwarningin

Juventus’willingnesstoletaplayer

theysignedforafeeof€ 100 million

leaveforjust€ 15 million”