Ronaldo shows he
By Harry Morgan
The spotlight was on Cristiano Ronaldo last Saturday as he made his debut in the Serie A for Juventus, and the Portugues star showed just enough to prove that he will cope in Italy.
Ronaldo made his name in the English Premier League with Manchester United and left Real Madrid a hero following before switching camp to the Bianconeri in a €112million move this summer.
The world's eyes switched to the 38,402 capacity Marc'Antonio Bentegodi stadium in Verona, with curious minds looking to subject the performance of the 5-time Ballon d ‘Or winner to strict scrutiny, and he did not disappoint.
Ronaldo is a crowd pusher, and that came to light before and during the game. Chievo Verona playing Juventus is not a top-liner, but local football handlers and the security made special arrangements for the game.
The reason became evident when Juventus arrived at the stadium. The supporters besieged the car park and shouted Ronaldo's name when Juventus' black and white-coloured bus pulled up.
Alerted by the noise, those already in the stadium also came out on the top tier to catch a glimpse of the club from Turin and their new No. 7.
Ronaldo did not score as Juventus came from behind to win 3-2, but he fired 8 shots at goal and 4 of them were on target.
His strike rate was twice as many than anyone else on the pitch, and 4 more than his closest contender and teammate, Federico Bernardeschi, who replaced Juan Cuadrado early in the 2nd half to score the match winner.
Indeed, the 4 strikes on goal had precision, and their inability to hit the back of the net can be attributed to the outstanding goalkeeping performance of Stefano Sorrentino than anything else.
Sorrentino made a fine block with his knees to keep out a thunderous long-range drive from Ronaldo, dived to his elastic limit to tip off the striker's vivacious volley from outside the box, palmed his header to a corner and grabbed his flick from close range.
The Serie A is known for its ruggedness, and one may consider it a no-go area for a 33-year old player, but Ronaldo showed enough enthusiasm and strength to the challenges that came his way.
Ronaldo delivered 4 good crosses from open play, gave 30 passes in the Chievo half and completed 91.3 percent of them. He made 16 aerial tussles and won half of them aside winning 2 fouls.
Massimiliano Allegri started the Portugal captain at center forward before drafting him to the left wing, and it is fair to say he did better at the left than at the center, but his overall show was indicative of a good run to come.
