Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci said the Old Lady players ‘subconsciously started to think’ Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence ‘was enough to win games’.
Ronaldo left Juventus after three seasons this summer and re-joined Manchester United after winning two Scudetti and one Coppa Italia with the Bianconeri.
The Portuguese superstar was brought to the Allianz Stadium in 2018 and was thought to be the missing piece in the Turin side’s hunt for a Champions League trophy.
Three coaches and three seasons later, Ronaldo left Juventus after scoring 101 goals in 134 games, including 14 from 23 games in the Champions League too.
But the reports of unrest at Continassa emerged and Ronaldo seemed set to leave the Bianconeri this year, as he moved his supercars away from Italy already before the European Championship.
The 36-year-old has continued to score at Manchester United, with four goals in four games, and Bonucci admitted the talisman had a subconscious effect on the players at Juventus.
“This was the thing,” Bonucci told The Athletic. “The idea that one player, even the best in the world, could guarantee Juventus victory.
“Cristiano’s presence had a big influence on us. Just training with him gave us something extra but subconsciously players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games.
“We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your team-mate day after day. Over the last few years, I think you could see that.”
Despite his incredible record in Serie A too, Bonucci believes CR7 needed ‘the team as much as we needed him’.
“Last season, we finished fourth and won the Coppa Italia because we became a team again. If you had thrown a piece of wood in the dressing room before those games it would have caught fire such was the electricity running through it.
“We missed that. Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Cristiano, he’d win us the game.
“But Cristiano needed the team as much as we needed him. There had to be a trade-off because it’s the team that lifts the individual even if the individual is the best player on the planet.”
Ronaldo has scored 111 goals for the national team and won the Golden Boot at EURO 2020 this summer.
i am glad one of the players said that. because it did seem like the level of the other players dropped especially in the c.league. that is not the juve way. it also didnt help that Ronaldo was getting older and couldnt put a team on his back anymore. i think that 1st season at juve was really the last year of Ronaldo being that super player. the years after he was still world class but he couldnt put a team on his back anymore.
So in the end, Beppe Marotta was right.
Ahh now Manchester can eat the poison
@I Miss Juve, Yes, I think everyone is happy in the end. Ronaldo is back to his former club, Juve are back to their “Grinta”, Inter fans are happy with good sporting manager in their boards, and Marotta is happy to get full respect in his new club. FIN.
My team is a hot garbage mess right now. Ronaldo managed to win the Champions League being part of Manchester Utd and Real. He went to my cherished team whom if I am honest are not at the level of Europe’s best. We bought a Ferrari but the problem is my serie b boys were always driving it on the wrong side of the road, and always going backwards and sideways.
@I MISS JUVENTUS IN SERIE B… Corrrect! But don’t copy others username (in this case I started using it a while back), be creative and find another username to bug that dude!!!
I am glad that CR7 arrived to Juve and didn’t end up like the other Ronaldo:
5 years, 3 played and ZERO trophies involving their direct Serie A Rivals ……. I mean let’s face it, if CR7 put up those numbers it would be a colossal failure but at Inter it was a success !
What Bonucci says is exactly what I’ve thought all along too. By bringing Ronaldo, Juve went a step forward, and by becoming lazy, they went 2 steps back. Such a waste.
All that excessive side passing, back passing, allowing the opponent to press Juve in their own half and best example of it is last year’s champions league goal that Porto scored against them when Bentacur back passed. And when eventually they went forwards, they would do it so slow that of course the opponent will have all the time in the world to organise, outnumer and nullify Ronaldo and other forwards.
I have only seen my cherished Rube win the CL on PS5. I am old, tired and confused just like the situation my team has found themselves in. I hope Allegri uses a revolutionary formation tonight (11-0-0). We must also get the players to wear diapers as Lukaku, Kante and Havertz are going to make us look like seria d material.
CR7 big mistakes
it should have been for the money he was paid and finessed us for, the sacrifice in goal difference when he couldn`t be bothered and his body language that spread around the team. but i`d rather play as a team, then win or lose as a team you do things together. never forget the primadonna
1 – stayed longer on purpouse to destroy our mercato
2 – couldn`t score againsat benevento
good riddance in all respects, especially his toxic fanbase
Agree with Bonucci, ronaldo is a world class player. But all players even the GOAT need his teammates to be the greatest. while at Juve, they really depend on Ronaldo and not support him. They become lazy and thinking they will win with Ronaldo playing alone.
If Ronaldo come at Marchisio Vidal Pirlo Pogba era, i think it will work but eventually after playing with modric and kroos he ended up playing with bentancur and rabiot.