Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo has rated his team’s first defeat of the season positively.
Ronaldo, who has played and scored regularly despite a rape allegation in the US, gave his team the lead in a Champions League clash against former club Manchester United on Wednesday, but Juve still fell dramatically 2-1 after late goals the premier league side the points.
The Serie A leaders, who play for AC Milan on Sunday, had won all three of their previous games in Europe and 10 of 11 in the league.
“It’s never nice to lose, but maybe this defeat will come at the best possible time,” said Ronaldo. “We have a great team, we are leaders and I’m sure that we will come through as group winners.”
On Wednesday, Juventus were again unable to beat their opponents despite Ronaldo’s great start that put his team in the lead.
Juve, who have won the last seven Serie A titles, almost conceded a late equalizer against Cagliari last weekend before scoring again and winning 3-1. And in Manchester two weeks ago, their dominance was not reflected in the 1-0 victory.
“If we want to reach the final in Madrid at the end of the season, we have to learn tonight because the little details matter,” said Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini. “We should have won this game easily.
“We’re still in the mix and it’s better to lose now than further down, but we have to do better. It’ll bring us down a time or two. Something like this had been in the air for a few games and we screwed up a big time tonight. “
Milan, who will be missing several players on Sunday due to injury, have won their last three league games and moved up to fourth place in Serie A.
“We have to get up immediately because we have a huge game in Milan on Sunday,” said Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “We have to keep working.”
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