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MILAN (AP) – With the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo, five-time winner of the Golden Ball, it may be the year when Juventus will win the Champions League.
Juventus twice won the first club competition in Europe, but last time in 1996. It has been in defeat five times since then, including twice in the last four editions.
The Bianconeri lost to Real Madrid in the 2017 final, with Ronaldo scoring twice in a 4-1 victory. Ronaldo also scored two goals against Juventus in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals last season, including a spectacular spectacular goal – which earned him a standing ovation from Juventus fans.
Juventus still understates the idea that the Champions League has become an obsession but coach Massimiliano Allegri knows that a player who has won the competition five times – including in four of the last five seasons – can bring a much needed club experience.
"We have always aimed to win the Champions League and certainly Ronaldo's signature will help us better understand how to achieve it," said Allegri during a protest at the European Parliament in Brussels on Wednesday.
"But with the league, the Italy Cup and the Italian Super Cup are the four goals for which Juventus has always played."
Juventus have won the Serie A title of the last seven seasons – and the league and Italian Cup have doubled for the last four – but it has struggled to transfer its national supremacy to the European stage.
Ronaldo dominated the Champions League and scored a record 120 goals, including 105 since his transfer to Madrid in 2009 – 12 more than Juventus as a team at the same time.
"I think it's a very important signature and a breakthrough for everyone, for the club and for all the environment," Allegri said. "When we resume on July 30 and everyone comes back, we will have a big year ahead of us, like all the others, with goals to achieve."
Juventus announced Tuesday that it would pay 112 million euros ($ 131.5 million) for Ronaldo, who signed a four-year deal with Serie A champions.
The 33-year-old Portuguese international is going to undergo a medical examination in Turin and is expected to be presented to the media on Monday.
The signature received a warm welcome in Italy, as it will draw more attention to a league largely devoid of big names in recent years. It will also boost the Italian game, with the country still shaken after not qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in 60 years.
"Signing Ronaldo is a good thing for the club but also a good thing for Italian football," said former footballer Alessandro Del Piero, who spent most of his career at Juventus and won the Cup of the World with Italy in 2006. "Throughout the city, the whole country will welcome it with much affection for what it has done and what it will do.
"I think it's going to increase the level of Juve's rivals, their desire to beat this Juventus team that already seemed unbeatable.With Ronaldo, Juve has been elevated to another dimension: today's everyone is talking about Juve, Turin and the Italian league like never before, all over the world. "
Napoli pushed Juventus closest to the title last year in what was for months a race of two horses, but finished with four points behind.
The new coach of Naples, Carlo Ancelotti, does not believe that the arrival of Ronaldo makes the fight even more won in advance.
"No," said Ancelotti when asked if Juventus had already won the title. "Certainly, Ronaldo is among the best in the world, maybe even the best … but the truth is that his arrival in Serie A gives great benefits to Juve and a very good motivation to challenge them all."
There are some question marks on how Ronaldo will fit into the Juventus team, alongside Gonzalo Higuain. The Argentine striker was the previous Serie A record two years ago when Juventus paid Napoli 90 million euros ($ 99 million).
"How will Ronaldo play?" Allegri said laughing. "As he always did: try to score goals."
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