Sports

Juventus ‘have done WORSE’ since Ronaldo arrived, insists Antonio Cassano

Published

4 years ago

February 28, 2021

Antonio Cassano has taken another swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo by insisting Juventus have done worse since signing the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, who he says must deliver a Champions League title to avoid being deemed a flop.

The Portugal star arrived in Turin in 2019 with the aim of propelling Juve to European glory but has been unable to deliver on that front..

That is once again in doubt after a 2-1 round of 16 first leg defeat by Porto puts them in danger of not reaching further than the quarter-final stage during his time at the club, while they are in danger of missing out on the Serie A title for the first time in 10 years.

And Cassano, who earlier this month branded Ronaldo as selfish following the loss, has suggested the Old Lady were better off before signing the former Real Madrid man and again claimed he does not suit manager Andre Pirlo’s team philosophy he is trying to build.

‘Juventus signed him to win the Champions League, but they’ve done worse with him than they’ve done before,’ Cassano said to Corriere dello Sport.

‘They would have won the Scudetto [Serie A title] without him. It was the wrong project.

‘He’ll keep scoring goals because he knows how to do that no matter what. He’ll cut in from the left, get the ball on his right foot and fire it in. His headers are unique.

‘But [head coach Andrea] Pirlo wants to build the play, pressure the opposition and play between the lines, and this means Cristiano doesn’t participate much.

‘I think he will have done badly unless they manage to win the Champions League.’

While their record of consistently Serie A titles has continued with Ronaldo at the club, they are under serious pressure to maintain that this season after falling seven points behind leaders Inter Milan.

Ronaldo has still continued his fine goal scoring record after adding his 26th goal in all competitions against Verona on Saturday, but as a team are still struggling as they were held to a 1-1 draw.

After their defeat at the Estádio do Dragão last week, Cassano had claimed to Bobo TV: ‘He doesn’t live for the play, the great match, he lives for the goal and at this moment, the situation is getting worse.

‘Years go by for everyone and he is having difficulties. Juventus are trying to change their ideas and play a different type of football, due to the qualities of Ronaldo.’