After a few Juventus players, their head coach has now taken a sly dig at Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who re-joined Manchester United last year.
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Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo left the Italian football giants Juventus to re-sign for Manchester United at the Premier League after three years, 133 appearances, 101 goals scored and five trophies across all competitions. He was the first player in Juventus history to score at least 100 goals in all competitions in his first three seasons with club. But his departure saw some Juventus players alleging him to spoil the club’s DNA by focusing on his personal goals and records. Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri, without naming Ronaldo, also took a dig at the Portuguese ahead of the Turin derby.
“I think that personal targets have been put aside, focusing on the team. We’ve been together for six-seven months now. We are knowing each other a little more, we feel more like a team,” Allegri said at a press conference.
“There is enthusiasm and desire to win even if it will be very difficult this season,” Allegri added.
Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic has took over the No.7 jersey from Ronaldo after he recently joined the club from Fiorentina. However, Juventus continue to struggle in the Serie A this season, as they find themselves on the fourth spot behind league leaders AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli respectively.
There is expected to be further trouble for Juventus in the Turin derby and beyond as Italian centre back and club veteran Leonardo Bonucci is out due to calf fatigue. There has been no update on his return date but he is also likely to miss their next Champions League match against Villareal on Tuesday.
He also has further doubts on the availability of his players due to various issues.
“Tomorrow’s game is really complicated. Surely there won’t be Leonardo Bonucci. He has calf fatigue and we’ll see if he can recover for Tuesday. He played in Bergamo and he was already fatigued in the first half,” Allegri said.
“I don’t know if Dusan Vlahovic, Alvaro Morata and Paulo Dybala will play. Federico Bernardeschi is still not ready because of an adductor problem, so we can’t take any risk. Federico Chiesa is out, Giorgio Chiellini is out, Danilo is suspended. Juan Cuadrado will play at right-back tomorrow. Moise Kean is feeling better and tomorrow I will decide who will play in attack, he played well against Atalanta and is an important player, especially now with so many games.
“I have to doubts in midfield Zak [Denis Zakaria] or McKennie, Locatelli or Arthur.” he added.
READ MORE: Champions League: Cristiano Ronaldo’s best displays against Atletico Madrid
