But in the quarter-finals, the fantastic style
of Ajax left Juventus without an answer.
“The destiny of the deal was written that
night, because they decided to change the
coach, Massimiliano Allegri, and try to find
a new way with Maurizio Sarri. It was a big
mistake, as Sarri didn’t have the pedigree to
train players like Ronaldo.
“If you look at his history, he was a great
player under Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti
and Zinedine Zidane – people he respected.
He didn’t have great seasons under Rafa
Benítez or Manuel Pellegrini. Or with Sarri.”
That wasn’t for a lack of trying on Sarri’s
part. His first act was to meet Ronaldo on
the player’s yacht on the French Riviera, but
he failed in an attempt to persuade him to
switch position from the left flank.
“Every year, coaches had tried to convince
him to play centre-forward, because Ronaldo
didn’t help when you didn’t have the ball,”
says Condo. “Sarri could accept it, but then
Ronaldo must play centre-forward to balance
the team. Ronaldo said no. He’d produced
the best form of his life when Benzema was
upfront for Real Madrid, so he always tried to
repeat that tactical situation.”
Ronaldo was Juve’s top goalscorer in his
first Serie A season, netting 21 times, but the
team actually fell 16 goals short of the 86
they’d registered a year earlier. Paulo Dybala’s
tally had dropped from 22 to five.
“Dybala was demolished – they brought in
Ronaldo and it was a bomb over him,” says
Condo. “Juventus didn’t score more goals,
the difference was that Ronaldo scored all
the goals. Set-pieces are the easiest way to
understand what he gives you and what he
doesn’t. Before he arrived, you had two great
specialists in Miralem Pjanić and Dybala, and
every year they combined to score seven or
eight goals. In three years with Ronaldo, he
took all the set-pieces and scored only one.
“Ronaldo was not enough, and he realised
very quickly that he was not enough. He was
like the nice lady whose best days are behind
her, and remembers when she had other
men who were better than you. At Juve, you
could always read in his eyes that it wasn’t
like Real Madrid.”
Juventus won Serie A again under Sarri
and Ronaldo upped his tally to 31 league
goals, an impressive number in Italian
football. He was named the league’s
standout player for a second successive
campaign. But it was the club’s narrowest
margin of victory in nine years – just a point
over Inter – and two Ronaldo goals weren’t
enough to stop them losing to Lyon in the
last 16 of the Champions League. European
triumph was only getting further away.
The Bianconeri replaced Sarri with Andrea
Pirlo, hoping that appointing a legendary
former player might work in the same way
as Ronaldo’s relationship with Zidane at Real.
But Pirlo’s lack of experience was quickly
exposed – he’d only been appointed boss of
the club’s under-23s nine days before he was
surprisingly handed the first-team job.
Ronaldo scored twice as Juventus won
3-0 at Messi’s Barça in the Champions
League, but they went out in the last 16
once again – this time to Porto – and
collapsed to fourth in Serie A. The money
spent on Ronaldo had hampered their ability
to fix the rest of the team, and the Old
Lady’s declining financial position led them
towards the European Super League. The
teams who have been clinging on to the
wreckage of that sinking ship – Juventus,
Real Madrid and Barcelona – are those who
have been paying gargantuan salaries to
Ronaldo and Messi in recent years.
“You had Ronaldo but you no longer had
a team,” says Condo. “In the 2015 Champions
League Final, the Juventus midfield was Pirlo,
Paul Pogba, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo
Vidal. A fantastic midfield. Last season it was
Arthur, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey, who’s
constantly injured, and Rodrigo Bentancur.
There are three classes of difference between
those midfields.”
Despite the team’s demise, Ronaldo still
notched 29 times in Serie A, beating Romelu
Lukaku to win the league’s Capocannoniere
top scorer award. “I reached a target I set
myself since the first day I got to Italy: to
win the league, the cup and the Super Cup,
and also to be the best player and the top
scorer,” Ronaldo said on Instagram. “Thanks
to everyone who took part in this journey.”
The not-so-hidden message was clear: he
was ready for the journey to end. Some view
that journey more positively than others.
“I think overall it was a positive
experience for Ronaldo and our football in
Italy,” ex-Juve midfielder Angelo Di Livio
explains to FFT. “He possibly expected morein Europe, but he was so professional and a
marvellous example for many youngsters.
“He was a perfect goal machine. I’m sorry
his time at Juventus ended so quietly.”
“Cristiano did some amazing things,” says
Massimo Carrera, Juve’s assistant manager
during Antonio Conte’s spell in charge. “Just
look at the numbers: 101 goals in 134 games.
When the team were struggling, he always
managed to do something important. The
problem is you can’t win by yourself. The
team was rebuilding – they’d lost Gianluigi
Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and Andrea Pirlo,
and they didn’t manage to build a team to
fit his standards.
“He carried Juventus. He’s still incredibly
fit, he has the body of a 20 year old –
actually, there are some 20 year olds who
don’t have his physique. He could play until
he’s 40. He’ll definitely be missed.”
Not just on the pitch, either. Two days
after his departure, the club lost 200,000
followers on Instagram. Just like his time in
Madrid, CR7’s Italian job came to a sudden
end: with the player eager to leave before his
contract expired and the club willing to
accept a low transfer fee – less than £13m.
Despite all of the goals, Juventus wanted his
wages gone.“AT JUVE, ROnALDO REALISED H E
WAS LIKE THE nICE LADY WHOSE
BEST DAYS ARE nOW BEHInD HER”
Below Ronaldo’s
Serie A spell wasn’t
without trophies
Bottom “My ego
is about this wide”THE
STORY OF
MAn UTD128 The Story of Man Utd FourFourTwo.com