Cristiano Ronaldo was in Liguria this weekend. The weather was great, the Tyrrhenian Sea had no waves. The yacht on which the Juventus Torino soccer player recovered on Saturday lay quietly in the sea. Relaxation inland. Ronaldo took a little breath with his partner before the season finale and posted a photo on Instagram with the words to be understood in different ways: “Let your dreams always come true with special accompaniment!” The sentence should of course flatter the girlfriend. But the question also remains: Will Ronaldo stay with Juventus, or is another dream due with a new company?
The game between Juventus Turin and Lazio Rome this Monday evening (9:45 p.m. at DAZN) will not provide any definitive answer to this question. Before Corona, the match was considered a decisive match in Serie A. Juventus Turin, last eight consecutive Italian champions, are still leaders, but Maurizio Sarri’s team has shown unexpected weaknesses in recent weeks. And the former Juve pursuer Lazio has not only slipped to fourth place in the table since the Corona break, but is unrecognizable overall.
Most recently, Simone Inzaghi’s team remained four games without a win. Top striker Ciro Immobile has already scored 29 goals this season, but has been without a goal in the past three games. The former Dortmund has not experienced such a doldrums since last summer. Lazio, whose owner and president Claudio Lotito, despite the pandemic, vehemently campaigned for the prompt progress of the season because he hoped for the third Scudetto in the club’s history, is completely out of the role. The game is not so much the decisive match in the championship, but rather a step for the near future.
Ronaldo’s break with coach Sarri
Things are not going well at Juventus either. Coach Sarri was hired before the start of the season to teach the “old lady” his spectacular style of play, which already delighted connoisseurs at FC Empoli and SSC Napoli. But the season started with sensitive dampers. In December Juventus lost the Super Cup against Lazio Rome, followed in February by a 0-1 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League first leg at Olympique Lyon shortly before the lockdown. Qualifying for the tournament of the last eight in Lisbon is in serious danger.
After the defeat against Lyon there was tension in the Juventus cabin. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo in particular (29 goals so far) did not want to understand why Sarri tried to dissuade him from his famous advances on the left. But apparently Sarri’s spectacle football doesn’t work that way. Since those discussions, the team has been regarded as divided; Ronaldo has broken with Sarri, it is said. In June followed the defeat in the cup final against SSC Napoli, albeit on penalties. At the crucial moments, the leaders under Sarri never showed the expected performance.
In addition, there are now the disturbing ideas for Juventus fans in the last three games. Against AC Milan, the Juventus defensive had to concede three goals in five minutes and lost 2: 4 after a 2-0 lead. Atalanta Bergamo struggled 2-2 a week ago. Also after a 2-0 lead last Wednesday, it was just 3: 3 against Sassuolo Calcio. Juventus scored nine goals earlier in three months, this time they were three games. With five games to go, the Turin team are six points ahead of Inter Milan in second place. There would have to be a football drama so that the record champions would lose the ninth title in a row. Apart from the midfield, the squad is very well staffed. The long injuries of Sami Khedira or Captain Giorgio Chiellini were not enough reasons.
Juve is already positioning Pirlo as the successor
Sarri is particularly in focus against Lazio Rome. “I do not understand it,” said the coach after the 3: 3 against Sassuolo. “In one and the same game we show great football and get into great difficulties.” The 61-year-old has to make Juventus a champion and go far in the Champions League, otherwise his Turin engagement could quickly come to an end. It is probably no coincidence that Spanish media recently launched the rumor that Cristiano Ronaldo could switch to Newcastle United in the Premier League at the end of the season. The Saudi royal family with its oil billions is currently buying there. This is unlikely, but the pressure on the coach is growing. Because a trainer is easy to sacrifice, but not Ronaldo.
Not even optimists believe that there will be great love in Turin in the short term. Instead, Sarri’s failure has long been planned behind the scenes. External solutions are difficult to implement in the extremely short summer break. This is one of the reasons why President Andrea Agnelli and the management are obliged to report that the former world champion and former Juventus star Andrea Pirlo coached the U 23. He should initially gain experience but could also step in for Sarri at any time. There are prominent examples of this path, for example Pep Guardiola or Zinédine Zidane. Both started as coaches of the second team, Guardiola at FC Barcelona, Zidane at Real Madrid. The next in this series could be Pirlo at Juventus.
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