Juventus Boss Massimiliano Allegri Aims Thinly-Veiled Dig at Cristiano Ronaldo

• Allegri suggested Juventus players have put ‘personal targets aside’ in a thin-veiled dig at Cristiano Ronaldo
• Ronaldo left Juventus for Manchester United last summer, and the Italian giants have struggled in the league since his departure
• The Juventus boss said the players know each other a bit better, having played together for six months

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri aimed a subtle dig at Cristiano Ronaldo by suggesting the players ‘now play as a team’ after the Portuguese superstar’s exit.

Ronaldo secured a £20million move back to Manchester United last summer, in a deal that caught Juventus by surprise in many ways.

He spent a fairly successful three-year spell with The Old Lady, winning two Serie A titles and the Coppa Italia last season.

In the league this season, Juventus have struggled and after making a horrendous start to the campaign, they found themselves out of the title race quite early in the season.

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Allegri has managed to steady the ship, and the team is now embroiled in a dogfight for the top four with the likes of Lazio and Atalanta.

‘Personal targets have been put aside’

Speaking ahead of the Turin derby on Friday, February 18, Allegri seemed to suggest that the team was now working as a unit.

While he did not mention any names, the tactician seemed to suggest Ronaldo’s exit from the club actually helped players operate more like a team.

“I think that personal targets have been put aside and there is more focus on the team,' he said at a press conference.

“We have been together for six or seven months now. We are knowing each other a little more, we feel more like a team.”

This is not the first time the discussion of Juventus playing more like a team since Ronaldo’s exit has been brought up.

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Defender Leonardo Bonucci has previously gone on record to blatantly criticize the Manchester United forward,

Bonucci suggested that Ronaldo had a mindset that he ‘could solve all the club’s problems on his own’ and believes Juventus have brought back ’humility’ to the team.

“In the recent past we had lost this characteristic from Juve, we were playing with a great champion like CR7 and we wanted to put him in a position to always do well, thinking he could solve all the matches,” Bonucci told Sky Sport Itallia in the past.

Power tussle at Man United

Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo, by his standards, has had a lukewarm return to Manchester United.

He has managed nine goals in 21 appearances in the Premier League this season, although the 37-year old has scored some important goals for his side.

Latest reports however suggest a rift inside the Manchester United dressing room.

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It has been reported that Cristiano Ronaldo is poised to take over as Man United captain, something that does not augur well with a number of players in the team, including the current skipper Harry Maguire.

Maguire however took to Twitter on Friday to refute claims of a rift within the squad.