When Juventus signed Cristiano Ronaldo back in the summer of 2018, they certainly hoped to take full advantage of his wide array of skills, including his ability to pinpoint free-kicks that had been delighting Manchester United and Real Madrid fans over the years.
However, things didn’t go entirely as planned, as the Portuguese star left Turin three years later having bagged a single set-piece goal against Torino from an overall 74 attempts.
It is fair to call it a deceptive tally for a player who had often been included among the best free kick specialists around, but it is even more paradoxical to look at how Juventus’ set-piece record has improved since CR7’s departure.
As reported by La Gazzetta dello Sport, Arkadiusz Milik’s late goal that sealed the Bianconeri’s win at Cremonese in their first Serie A match of the year meant that the Old Lady are now the only outfit, besides Ligue 1 side Lorient, to have scored three free kick goals in the top five European Leagues.
Milik’s latest effort was preceded by Dusan Vlahovic’s stunning free kicks against Roma and Spezia in the space of four days back in August.
It is likely that the two Bianconeri strikers will share such a task in the future. While Vlahovic’s set-piece ability can’t be overlooked, Milik currently boasts the best free-kick conversion rate in Serie A since 2004-05, having scored four times from 12 attempts in the process.
Ronaldo was always awful at taking free kicks. He’s one of the worst I have ever seen. What are you talking about?
Ronaldo free kicks already declined with real madrid netting only 3 in his last 4 years
Yes but Penaldo is a hero from the penalty spot. Swings and roundabouts.
What do you mean Ronaldo was no good at taking free kicks? No one can hit the wall as well as him