Cristiano Ronaldo might have scored 92 goals in a total of 121 games, and he might have been able to come away with two Serie A titles but at the end of the day, some believe that he has been a failure. Why? He was not paid 100 million to secure some Serie A titles. They knew that he would be able to do this, and they also knew that he would be able to rocket the goal production of the team as well. At the end of the day, he was brought to the team to do one thing and one thing only: to win the team their third Champion’s League. It would seem that the terms of this are harsh because the bar that was set was just too high. It was an all-or-nothing scenario but somehow people believe it to be worse than this. It’s not that Juventus have not been able to scratch the itch for the Champions League, it’s that they now look further away from it than ever. They have failed to win their first Serie A title for the first time since the 2010-2011 season. They have dominated for a decade. However, the team is now in need of a rebuild after a serious decline which has been hinted at for the last couple of seasons, just at the point when other contenders – like Inter Milan, A.C. Milan, and Atalanta – have improved.
Cristiano Ronaldo is being consistently linked with a move away from the Italian giants now, with this Juventus project seemingly at an end. The Old Lady is still, to put it in the terms of those who enjoy online sports betting, favourite for next season’s Serie A title. Even after poor performances in previous seasons Juventus won titles. This season is, understandably, seen as a blip. The power and might of this club cannot be dismissed. They still have quality players, and with Max Allegri now back in charge, they could be back to their formidable selves even during a rebuild. Will he and Cristiano finally achieve their Champions League goals?
Before his Arrival
Before Ronaldo arrived with the team, Juve had managed to get to the Champion’s League twice in a total of four years. Since he and his five title wins have come to town, they have not been able to make it past the quarter-finals. Every single one of their exits have been more painful than the last. Some believe that they are performing inferior to their opposition too, but this isn’t really the case. In fact, it would seem that they are performing well, the opposition are just doing better.
The Champions League
The logic is that the team Juve were close, and therefore signing one of the most prolific winners in the league would win seems reasonable. Margins in football are fine, and Ronaldo can skew them in your favour. However, there is a paradox: signing the best players means committing a lot of the wage bill to a single player, which limits what can be done with the rest of the squad. Obviously this approach only holds if the club is concerned with its financial position, which Juve and Barcelona (who have their own Messi problem they are working through) appeared not to be. With Ronaldo’s rumoured departure looking more and more likely, this will free some funds to reduce the squad’s age, invest in pre-peak and peak players who will improve weak points and put them in a potentially better and more flexible tactical position to achieve their Champions League dreams.
