Cristiano Ronaldo went back to Portugal rather than watching Manchester United face Manchester City in yesterday’s derby and this is not the first time he’s disappeared on his teammates.
The 37-year-old Portuguese star has a history of abandoning his squad, doing so on a number of occasions during his three-year spell with Juventus. Five separate incidents in particular stand out as many begin to question the player’s commitment to the Red Devils after a difficult season.
1 – The truffle hunt
In October 2019, Ronaldo was rested for an away match against Puglia based Lecce by then-coach Maurizio Sarri. Rather than joining the squad, he stayed in Turin and decided to go truffle hunting in the countryside instead whilst Juventus picked up a disappointing 1-1 draw.
Many fans questioned his decision to relax instead of joining the squad and possibly coming off the bench in the second half to help try and secure a win.
2 – Early doors against Milan
Two weeks after the truffle hunt, Sarri brought off Ronaldo in the 55th minute of a home match against Milan, which was still 0-0 at the time. He was replaced by Paulo Dybala, who would go on to score the winner 22 minutes later.
The former Real Madrid man was not impressed with his coach’s decision and he left the Allianz Stadium after being brought off rather than staying to watch the game from the bench.
3 – Flight to Portugal
In March 2020, just before the first COVID lockdown in Italy, Ronaldo flew to Portugal to be close to his mother in Madeira. When news of Daniele Rugani’s positive test broke a few days later, the player was already at home, being the first foreign Juventus player to leave the country.
Many accused Ronaldo of not taking the COVID protocols seriously and his decision undoubtedly led to other foreign Juventus players leaving Italy in the following days and weeks.
4 – Post-Milan meeting
After a 3-0 loss to the Rossoneri back in May last year, Ronaldo met with Andrea Agnelli and John Elkann at Maranello. Many of his teammates were not happy that this meeting took place, although it was reportedly a scheduled visit that was due to take place regardless of the result against Milan.
5 – Departure
Ronaldo left Juventus last summer amidst a storm of chaos, with it being incredibly unclear where his future lay. He started the season with the Bianconeri, playing 30 minutes in a 2-2 draw against Udinese, before it became clear that he was ready to make a move.
The Portuguese star seemed to be on the verge of joining Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City before eventually returning to Old Trafford, leaving his Juventus teammates completely in the dark.
And we thank him for leaving! FJ
Was never a true leader with Juve ‘DNA’, failed experiment and now we get back on track!
You have to ask yourselves: was it worth losing Marotta for Cristiano Ronaldo?
He was against the move but Agnelli did not respect his authority, so he left.
When will Ronaldo realise he is not the player he once was. He must have all YES ppl around him telling him what he wants to hear. He has had some very poor performances in the EPL against the smaller teams where he has hardly had a shot on goal in 90 minutes. Go finish your career in USA where you will still manage a goal a game if not more. Or even PSG he would get a good goal to game ratio and add to that goal tally.
We are not missing him at Juve .
If anyone actually watched La Liga rather than taking in numbers, they’d see he never was. And for Portugal…hey, believe whatever you want in the face of performances, week in and out.
That move was the biggest mistake he made in his career. Ronaldo has won the CL with every team since leaving Sporting but came up against a brick wall with the serial (7/9) losers of Europe. Going from Man Utd to Real Madrid was a step up, but from Real to Juve is like swapping a sports car for a second hand hatchback. At least his best goal probably ever scored was against Juventus and he had a penchant for punishing them.
The worst moment from Ronaldo was turning his back on the free kick against Porto.
Overall, he guaranteed 25+ goals and he guaranteed new “fans”, some who have actually stayed with Juventus!
It was probably a mistake for Juve to sign him, but lets be honest the Higuain purchase was a bugger waste of money (90 mlllion for a flat track bully!), and so was Douglas Costa (50 mil) and Bernardeschi (40 mil), not to mention the huge salaries of Rabiot and Ramsey
Very bitter article. No matter how much you tell yourself it, Ronaldo didnt screw Juventus juve screwed Juve.
Serial losers of Europe? Yes, Juve has lost way too many finals, but at least they did go that far nine times in a tournament that isn’t even 80 years old. It’s really not bad. Oh, who am I kidding… if you’re not a fan of Juve, you must trash them at any given moment. At least blame us for the super league… that’s a legit reason to spew some hate.
Also, Ronaldo was never a good idea, although he did score his fair share of goals. But the team only got worse. Which isn’t to say that’s entirely his fault either.
He needed modric, kross, and co to shine not some mediocre like Rabiot or Bentancur. About Moratta, Juve didn’t extend his contract, he didnt want to leave but Agnelli was being hypnotized by Paratici
I would miss Rabiot if he left Juve
@Ringo
I would miss Rabiot too, if I was inter fan 😀
Before rival fans start counting how many CL final we have been to and how many we lost. Just look at how many time’s you have won the Serie a tital in the hundred plus years you have been established.
Sour grapes and poor sports. Ronaldo served Juve well with over 30 goals a season. He should not have been expected to do everything. Look in the mirror and take the wood out of your eye before pointing fingers.