Ronaldo, Juve’s worst in the most important match: it could be the end of a cycle | First page

Three eliminations, two in the round of 16 and one in the quarter-finals. Cristiano Ronaldo landed in Turin in the summer of 2018 to win the Champions League, after three seasons the balance is a caporetto. If against Ajax and Lyon he was one of the last to give up, against Porto he was the worst on the pitch, from the first to the last minute.. Slow, stubborn, nervous and predictable, he was a problem for Juve throughout the game. That Juve that should have taken by the hand, to bring it to the top, to win a cup that has been missing since 1996.

DECISIVE ERROR – No dangerous shot, no play and the decisive error in the barrier in the 115th minute that allowed Sergio Oliveira to pierce Szczesny and definitively address the qualification discourse. From a coach of € 30 million a year, from someone capable of scoring 134 goals in the Champions League and winning eight semifinals in Europe that matters before the Juventus adventure, everyone expected more. He was taken to cultivate a dream, for Juve it became a nightmare, first economic, then sporting.

END OF AN ERA – The rest against Lazio was useless, Ronaldo seemed exhausted, physically and mentally. The challenge of the stadium of the Dragon had raised the alarm, tonight’s test is proof that the perfect machine has jammed. Ronaldo has stopped being the strongest. The defeat against Porto could represent the beginning of an end of a cycle. CR7 has the contract expiring in 2022, Paratici was clear, the renewal is not a priority at the moment. Uncertainties, even on the next year. At the end of the season a point will be made with his agent Jorge Mendes, farewell is a concrete hypothesis. Now Juve have understood that they can do without him.
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