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12.02.2020 » Can Ronaldo deliver Juventus the Champions League trophy?
Desperate times usually call for desperate measures. That's one way to look at what's going on in Turin in recent years, as Juventus struggles to conquer Europe after many years of total domination in Italy. The last time the Vecchia Signora lifted a Champions League trophy goes back to 1996, when the Bianconeri had in their ranks multiple legends such as Peruzzi, Antonio Conte, Gianluca Vialli, Del Piero, Ravanelli, Didier Deschamps and even the Portuguese midfielder, Paulo Sousa. At the time, betting online was not possible at all, but with today's range of options and a good sports trading platform, it's easier to make money when you bet smart. It's now been more than 20 years since the Italian giants tasted glory in the major European competition and they've already lost in the Champions League final in 5 different occasions over this period... Can Ronaldo finally break the curse?
Cristiano Ronaldo - A competitive beast:
The first year expectations...
Ronaldo's first season with Juventus ended up partially disappointing some of the Bianconeri fans and the only reason for that to have happened was basically the fact that Juventus failed to go all the way in their UEFA Champions League campaign, after being stopped by Ajax in the quarter-finals of the competition. A 1-1 draw in the first leg in Amsterdam, followed by a 2-1 loss at home a week later, would see the Italian champions falling short in another year, which inevitably led to a general sense of a growing frustration inside the club.
If we look at Ronaldo's numbers in his first year wearing the Juventus shirt, we can't really blame him for not delivering what was expected from him. Not only he scored a total of 28 goals in all competitions, but he also scored 6 times in the Champions League, including Juventus' two goals in both legs against Ajax in the quarter-finals round.
Something else didn't click the way it was supposed to in that team and hopefully Maurizzio Sarri has managed to understand that this season and force the script to be different in the upcoming months when the big games arrive...
Making the difference when it matters...
This season, Juventus have qualified to the knock-out rounds after finishing first in their group, outclassing Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow in the process. The Italian champions kicked off their European campaign with a 1-1 draw in Madrid against Atletico, but then went on to win their next 5 games with a 10-2 aggregate goal-average. Ronaldo, however, struggled to make an impact in the competition's group stage this season, as he only scored once and in a Juventus 3-0 home win against Bayer Leverkusen, on October 1...
With the knock-out rounds coming up later this month and with Cristiano Ronaldo's incredible scoring form ignited last December, it's highly likely that we'll see a total different Ronaldo in this stage of the competition. The Portuguese forward is one of the most experienced active players in the game and he surely knows, better than anyone else, when his goals and performances are going to be needed the most. At the age of 35, he may not be able to be at his best over the entire course of a season, but being smart means you know the importance of resting, allowing you to handpick the games and the periods where you'll be fresh and capable of delivering your own best version.
However, Juventus aren't exactly running alone for this highly coveted Champions League trophy and despite a theoretical favorable draw in the last-16 round against Olympique Lyon, pretty much every major European shark is still in the tank and lurking for an opportunity to take a bite at the trophy. Nothing that Ronaldo isn't used to and if he keeps on scoring at his current pace in the upcoming games of the Champions League, Juventus will be one of the major favorites to be crowned European champions next May...
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus in the Coppa Italia is on February 13, against AC Milan. You can watch AC Milan vs Juventus, Dijon vs PSG, Valencia vs Atletico Madrid, Wolverhampton vs Leicester City, Inter vs Napoli, and Lyon vs Marseille, all matches provided from our soccer live game pages.
Juventus next game:
AC Milan vs Juventus kick-off time (13-02-2020):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:45
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:45
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 01:15
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:45
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+0: 19:45
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:45
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:45
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:45
Sources: ronaldo7.net / br.com / goal.com / calciomercato.com / vodds.com
