It appears Cristiano Ronaldo won’t be Serie A top scorer for the first time as his dream of topping Ciro Imobille suffered a huge blow after Juventus lost 2-0 to Cagliari.
Juventus, who clinched their 9th consecutive Serie A title during the weekend after defeating Sampdoria 2-0 failed to score as they lost 2-0 to Cagliari. Ronaldo, who has scored 31 goals in the domestic league this season found himself frustrated on Wednesday night.
The hosts did the needful against the champions through goals from Luca Gagliano close-range finish and Giovanni Simeone’s powerful drive.
Ronaldo now trails Immobile by four goals in the battle for Europe’s Golden Shoe.
Sarri ready to play Juventus junior team against Roma
Speaking after the match, Juventus coach, Maurizio Sarri admitted that he’s ready to play the Juventus Under-23 squad against Roma.
The coach, who pointed out that the team is playing five times in 12 days had to rotate the squad in order to bring freshness into the team that lost 2-0 at Sardina.
Speaking with DAZN, the former Napoli coach said that his team is the only one in Europe who will have to play five times in 12 days.
“We’ll see how we are tomorrow (today) and whether we ought to field the Under-23 team in its entirety at the weekend so that everyone can get a bit of rest.”
Since the league title is already in the bag, the attention shifts towards the Champions League Round of 16 clashes with Lyon slated for August 7. Juve’s next Serie A opponents Roma have already secured fifth place.
“In terms of motivation and determination, this was an atypical match and cannot be considered the same way as the rest of the season. Our passing is good, but the pace at which the ball circulates is the issue. Passing it slowly, and I mean the ball rather than legs, just makes things easy for the opposition.
“We had nine players left at home with injuries today, so obviously I’ve got some doubts ahead of Lyon. We’ll have to see who recovers.”
On the reason for using Ronaldo for 90 minutes despite his squad rotation, Sarri said the Portuguese, who wanted to close on Capocannoniere Immobile is motivated and wanted to play.
“Speaking to him yesterday, he was very motivated, wanted to play, was really enthusiastic, and felt good. We made the decision together, he knows his body better than anyone.
“Ronaldo is instinctive and doesn’t fit entirely into certain tactical roles, which is also his strength, but it means the other striker has to adapt to Cristiano’s movements. We did it well at times this evening too, but didn’t finish the moves.”
