When Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid for Juventus in 2018 many people would have thought that he cannot recreate his goalscoring form in Italy as they are known for their high level of defending. But this man is ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ and age is just a number for him!
Even at 35 years of age, he is outperforming the youngsters almost by a mile. He has scored 31 goals in 32 games this season in Serie A. He has now equalled the all-time Juventus record for most goals in a single league season and you can bet that he is going to surpass the record in the remaining two league games. Incredible, isn’t he?
Cristiano Ronaldo neither has his lightning pace anymore nor can he can dribble past numerous defenders like his younger days, but he has adapted according to his age and has become more effective in front of the goal.
The Portuguese international scored a goal against Sampdoria and Bernardeschi scored another to win the game 2-0 for Juventus. Although Ronaldo missed an 89th min penalty to increase his goal tally, the 2-0 win was enough to guarantee Juventus their ninth successive Serie A title.
Juventus are now 7 points clear of second-placed Inter with only 2 games remaining. So they have taken an insurmountable lead in Serie A. It is Juventus’s 36th Italian league title overall and a first for former Chelsea boss Maurizio Sarri, after he replaced Massimiliano Allegri last summer.
Leonardo Bonucci told Sky Sport Italia after Juventus won their ninth straight Serie A title: “‘It was the most beautiful title because it was the most difficult. We started a new era, a new philosophy, ran into so many difficulties, but we continued to give our all throughout, even when there were so many slip-ups.”
“It was so complicated outside the field too, the world changed in three months. We had to get our minds back on it, but we did it. We wanted it, we suffered. I have no words. We gave everything to ensure that we would do this for us, for the club, for the fans who cheered us on from home, or from heaven.”
“We wanted to celebrate with those who weren’t able to be here with us. When you wear this jersey, you cannot hold back. It has been an intense year.”
He further added: “We struggled at times to interpret the coach’s philosophy, but we remained a team, we worked as great men more than great players. Now we’ll try to rest over the next 10 days and then prepare for the next challenge.”
Juventus’ next target is to win the Champions League this season. They will host Lyon for the second leg of round-of-16 on 7th August. They need to overturn a 1-0 loss which they suffered back in February.
Considering recent form, Juventus will most probably win the tie and advance to the final eight in Lisbon. Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to add another Champions League winners’ medal in his trophy cabinet.
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