With Cristiano Ronaldo in the club, Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon claims that the Bianconeri “lost the DNA of being a team.”
In Turin, Ronaldo was a big success on an individual level. He stayed at the club for three years after Fabio Paratici engineered his £100 million move in 2018, scoring 101 goals in 134 games and helping Juve win their eighth and ninth Scudetti titles.
In his final season at Juventus (2020/21) Ronaldo became the club’s fastest player to reach 100 goals in Bianconeri colors, winning the Serie A Capocannoniere. The Portuguese legend, however, was unable to propel Juve to their ultimate goal: the Champions League.
While Ronaldo was at Turin, the Old Lady suffered three humiliating European exits, and he quit stunningly ahead of the latest summer transfer deadline, rejoining with Manchester United.
This season has been difficult for Massimiliano Allegri and Juventus without Cristiano Ronaldo. While they struggled last season under Andrea Pirlo, their problems have worsened in 2021/22. However, a successful finish to the calendar year leaves them in ideal shape to push on in the new year, when they’ll face Villarreal in the Champions League round of 16.
Despite their present difficulties, numerous Juventus players have spoken out against Ronaldo’s tenure at the club, claiming that the all-time great forward held them back in various ways.
Buffon, who now plays for Parma, was the most recent player to speak out.
“The first year he arrived, which was the year I was at Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus had a chance to win the Champions League, and I couldn’t figure out what went wrong,” the great Italian told TUDN.com.
“When I returned, I worked for two years with CR7, and we performed well together, but I believe Juventus lost its team DNA.
“In 2017, we reached the Champions League final because we were a team with a lot of experience, but above all, we were a single unit, and there was a lot of competitiveness for spots inside the group.” “With Ronaldo, we lost that,” he said.
In Ronaldo’s absence, Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci had stated that his club was playing “more like a team.”
“We started to fall short in our everyday work, in terms of humility, sacrifice, and the desire to be there for your buddy every day.” “I think you might see that over the last few years,” he remarked.
Meanwhile, Giorgio Chiellini criticized Ronaldo’s late summer departure but noted that his departure may have been necessary for Juventus to progress.
“At Juventus, a rejuvenation relaunch program grew. If Ronaldo had stayed, it would have been a bonus that we would have gladly taken advantage of, but he may be more concerned with the here and now than with the future.
“He went on the 28th of August; it would have been better for us if he had left sooner.” It’s something we paid for, there’s a little surprise in it for you, and we paid for it in terms of points, in my opinion.
“Had he gone on August 1st, we would have had more time to prepare,” the grinta-obsessed Chiellini hypothesized to DAZN (via Football365).
Juventus had a historically bad start to the Serie A season, but they recovered ahead of the winter break, leaving them in a strong position moving into 2022.
