Cristiano Ronaldo: Former Juventus Chief Downplays Portugal Star’s Time in Serie A

• Cristiano Ronaldo played for Juventus for three years between 2018 and 2021
• He joined the Italian giants after leaving Real Madrid, where he spent nine years
• A former club chief has hit out at the Portuguese for not meeting expectations

Cristiano Ronaldo may have notched goals and won trophies at Juventus, but he did everything the same as they had been doing before his arrival, according to a former club chief.

Ronaldo surprisingly left Real Madrid after winning the 2018 UEFA Champions League – the third consecutive win under club legend Zinedine Zidane.

He opted to try a new challenge in the Italian Serie A and joined giants Juventus. Per BBC Sports, the Old Lady paid £99 million to Madrid, who signed him for £80mil in 2009.

The Portuguese forward spent three out of his four contracted years in Turin, playing under the management of Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo, and featuring in a few games under Max Allegri before making a return to his former club, Manchester United, in 2021.

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Barotta slams Ronaldo's time at Juve

Ronaldo featured for Juve 134 times, scored 101 goals and provided 22 assists. He was named the league's best player in 2019 and 2020, winning the Golden Boot in 2021.

Despite these achievements, Italian football director Beppe Marotta feels he needed to do more as they failed to win the Champions League, which he also claimed was why they signed him after scoring a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid.

Marotta spoke on the transfer and how things ended on the Wolf - Storie che conta podcast via Sportskeeda.

“The purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo by Juve did not bring the desired results. Let’s say that his contribution did not correspond to the very great expectations that exist for his arrival,” he said.

Before his arrival, Juve had won seven consecutive Scudetto and reached two UCL finals; with him, they won two titles but never went past the quarter-final stage in Europe and lost their title streak, which they haven't regained.

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Ronaldo benefitted from Growth Decree

Sports Brief reported on Ronaldo benefitting from Growth Decree, which is set to be scrapped by the Italian government this year despite outcry from clubs.

The rule gives tax breaks to big football stars coming to play in the league to attract investments into the country, and it helped Juventus pay Ronaldo a huge salary, which ordinarily they can't afford.