I will do the impossible to win the Champions League with Juventus. These were the words, Cristiano Ronaldo said when he signed for the Turin giants. Ronaldo joined the then Italian champions in search of a new challenge from Real Madrid after a record three-peat. The legendary Portuguese international though has failed to keep his word as they do not have a Champions League title to show for as he leaves. But on commercial grounds, Ronaldo has elevated the club and brought them within touching distance of the European elite.
Cristiano Ronaldo is a man on a /GvfSzgfRh4
ESPN FC (@ESPNFC)January 3, 2019
Ronaldo arrived at Juventus as a 100 million signing from Real Madrid. He won the league in his first two years in Italy and won multiple domestic cups. He kept scoring goals regularly and in fact won them games singlehandedly at times. Ronaldo, dubbed as Mr Champions League, failed to get them past the quarter-finals during his three-year spell in Italy.
Ronaldo has been in a transitional Juventus team and played under different managers. He was being constantly criticized by Juventus legends time and time again. Ronaldo felt he didnt stand much chance of keeping his word with Juventus. At 36 years of age, he was also running out of time to won another Champions League or Ballon dOr. He felt the big-spending project at his old club Manchester United was more suitable for him. As a result,Ronaldo re-signed for the red devils after a massive transfer u-turn.
A post shared by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano)
While leaving, Ronaldo wrote a special love letter to Juventus and thanked them for their love and support towards him.
Juventus knew they were getting a prolific goal scorer in Ronaldo. No matter what happens off the field, he was always going to score tons of goals. Ronaldo has champions arrogance that made him what he is today and a never give up mentality. It took him four games to open his Juventus though. But once he scored, it opened the floodgates. Ronaldo won his first trophy in Italy through the 2018 SuperCoppa Italiana in 2019. He poetically scored the only goal of the match to lead them to the title. The Old Lady also swept the league that season with Ronaldo being named the first MVP in the history of Serie-A.
Ronaldo perhaps produced his customary clutch performance in the Champions League. The Bianconeri lost the first leg 2-0 to Atletico Madrid and needed a massive comeback. Ronaldo with ice in his veins scored a cool hattrick and celebrated in front of a stunned Diego Simeone to take Juventus into the quarters. But his magic ended there as Juve were outsmarted by a young and hungry Ajax side led by Matthijs de Ligt. Sadly it proved to be Ronaldos deepest venture into the Champions League with Juventus.
Ronaldo despite scoring a brace in the first leg was unable to prevent Juve from getting knocked out by Lyon in the round of sixteen in 2020. A similar humbling was instore in the hands of Porto in 2021. The Bianconeri constantly failed to get the best out of Ronaldos teammates and the team suffered.
