Former Italy defender Marco Materazzi has said Juventus’ season will be a failure if they do not win the Champions League after signing Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus and Ronaldo travel to Spain to take on Atletico Madrid in the round-of-16 first leg on Wednesday night.
How close are Juventus to winning the Champions League? Five key things to know…
- Champions League success has narrowly eluded Juventus in recent years; they lost in both the 2015 and 2017 finals.
- Defeats against Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017 prevented Juventus from winning the European Cup for the first time since 1996.
- Last season, they reached the quarter-finals only to lose to Real Madrid over two legs.
- Ronaldo scored in both legs, including a stunning overhead kick in Turin and a contentious penalty at the Bernabeu.
- Juventus lured Ronaldo from Madrid last summer in a bid to strengthen their bid for Champions League glory but, remarkably, he has scored just once in Europe this season.
Ronaldo has found the net 21 times in 32 appearances across all competitions for Juventus and will be aiming to find form in Europe in the round-of-16.
But Materazzi, who won the Champions League in 2010 with Inter Milan, believes Juventus will have failed if they do not lift the trophy with Ronaldo in the team.
“Juventus are a Champions League team and they have the obsession of winning it every season,” Materazzi told reporters.
“When you win a lot in Italy you always want to take the next step, and that step forward in this case is the Champions League.
“Last summer they signed a player who can’t be compared to anyone else in the Champions League. I think it’s their main target.
“It’s difficult for someone to take the title away from them because they’re the best equipped and most organised team, who have won together and played together for many years.
“Ronaldo has to do his bit. The problem will be if they don’t win it because if they don’t, it’ll be a failure.”
Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel: sqwk.at/Squawka-Sub
Why hasn’t Ronaldo shone in Europe for Juventus yet?
Ronaldo scored just one goal in five group stage appearances, a brilliant volley against his former club Manchester United at the Allianz Stadium.
But why did he struggle to find the net against Valencia and Young Boys?
The Portugal international was sent off in the opening group match against Valencia, meaning he missed the following game with Young Boys.
It is still perhaps a surprise he wasn’t on the scoresheet in the remainder of his appearances, but he will be looking to set things right in the knockout stages.
The 34-year-old scored 15 goals in 13 Champions League games for Real Madrid last season.
The post Juventus not winning the Champions League with Ronaldo a ‘failure’, according to Materazzi appeared first on Squawka News.
From Squawka News http://bit.ly/2EiouzQ
No comments:
Post a Comment