Juventus‘ talisman Cristiano Ronaldo has taken to his Instagram page to address his teammates and the entire club after Ligue 1 club Lyon knocked them out of the UEFA Champions League on Friday. In his message to the club, the 35-year-old Portuguese football icon wants the club to always see itself as the best in the world.
The Turin based club has had a 2019-2020 season filled with mixed-outcomes. They played in two finals and failed to win none but were able to win the Italian Serie A which is no longer very big news for the club that has been winning the title for the past 9 seasons. Since they have been dominating club football in Italy, their aim has been to extend that dominance to Europe.
Hence, Juventus‘ exit from the Champions League in the Round of 16 was a bitter pill to swallow by the handlers of the Italian club. Though they gave a good fight as they were eliminated via away goals rule, the manager of the club, Maurizio Sarri, was the first casualty of the ouster. He was sacked and replaced with a former player of the club, Andrea Pirlo.
Just like how the handlers of the Italian Serie A club were not happy that they had to exit the competition so early into it, Ronaldo is apparently the saddest. This is so because the Portuguese football star scored two stunning goals for Juventus in the second leg of the round of 16 to force the game to end 2-2 in Turin. Since the first leg ended 1-1 in France, the French club still had to qualify ahead of Juventus.
“The 2019/20 season is over for us, much later than usual but yet sooner than we expected”, Cristiano Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. “Now it’s time for reflection, time to analyze the ups and downs because critical thinking is the only way to improve.
“A huge club such as Juventus must always think like the best in the world, work as the best in the world so that we can call ourselves one of the best and biggest clubs in the world.
“Winning the Serie A once again in such a difficult year is something that we are very proud of.”
Cristiano Ronaldo faces the future with renewed ambition
Though Juventus did not achieve their aim of winning the Champions League in the outgoing 2019-2020 season, Ronaldo who has been their talisman since he joined the club in 2018 from Real Madrid, had a wonderful season on a personal level.
The 35-year-old former Manchester United forward has scored 31 goals and made 6 assists in the Serie A alone, he scored 4 goals in the Champions League and 2 in Coppa Italian to end the entire season with 37 goals and 7 assists in 46 appearances.
“Personally, scoring 37 goals for Juventus and 11 for the Portuguese National Team is something that makes me face the future with renewed ambition and desire to keep doing better and better each year”, Ronaldo added. “But the fans demand more from us. They expect more from us. And we have to deliver, we must live up to the highest expectations.
“May this short vacation break allow us all to make the best decisions for the future and come back stronger and more committed than ever.’
