Turin: Star Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci revealed the major reason that caused a fallout between the Juventus and the talisman Cristiano Ronaldo.
“This was the thing, the idea that one player, even the best in the world, could guarantee Juventus victory,” Bonucci told The Athletic.
Since coming to Juventus from Real Madrid in 2018 Ronaldo has won the Serie A title twice, the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana as well. In 134 games for the club, he scored 101 times.
But summer of 2021 saw the Portuguese skipper make a shocking return to Manchester United after 12 year and the Euro 2020 winner had finally disclosed the reason that may have cause dissent in the former star.
“Ronaldo’s presence had a big influence on us. Just training with him gave us something extra, but subconsciously players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games.”
“We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your teammates day after day. Over the last few years, I think you could see that.”
Although Ronaldo had his moments at Juventus and undoubtedly played his part, Bonucci believes that he needed his teammates as much as they needed him to succeed.
“Last season, we finished fourth and won the Coppa Italia because we became a team again,” Bonucci explained.
“If you had thrown a piece of wood in the dressing room before those games it would have caught fire such was the electricity running through it.” added he.
“We missed that. Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Ronaldo then he’d win us the game.”
“But Ronaldo needed the team as much as we needed him. There had to be a trade-off because it’s the team that lifts the individual even if the individual is the best player on the planet.”
Ronaldo’s departure from the Italian giants have hit the club badly as they failed to register any win in the four matches , however they returned back to wining ways against Malmo, Spezia and Sampdoria. They infact secured win against defending European Champions Chelsea on Wednesday.
