After an unsatisfying and grim period for Juventus, there is finally a bright, shimmering ray of hope shining through. The infamous, world-class star, Cristiano Ronaldo, has now scored in seven consecutive Serie A games after struggling with a trifling knee injury. After struggling to score goals for so long and having previously netted just five times in the competition, it is safe to say the star is now reborn and in just the right time.
The Portuguese phenomenon has not stopped scoring and has already reached a tally of 19 goals. La Gazzetta Dello Sport assessed his physical conditions and revealed, “the knee problem would have required a period of rest, but he wanted to play the same with Portugal in order not to risk compromising the European qualification. In a month, he has recovered and is scoring a lot but he only feels at 60-70% of his potential and with the black and white staff he has already planned everything to reach 100 in the spring when the magic Champions League nights will return”.
As explained in the assessment, although Ronaldo doesn’t feel 100%, his performance has drastically improved and he is determined to get back, as the Champions League is set to come back very soon.
Unfortunately, many believe Ronaldo was ‘robbed of own sixth Ballon d’Or’. Juventus’ coach, Sarri expressed his disappointment at Lionel Messi pipping him to a sixth Ballon d’Or last December. He said: “It’s annoying thinking that someone won more than Cristiano”.
Thus, Ronaldo’s resurgence can partly be attributed to his “anger” after Messi moved ahead of him in the Ballon d’Or rankings and Sarri’s willingness to indulge him. It’s clear the impact that Ronaldo has made after arriving at Juventus a year and a half ago in a sensational move from Real Madrid is massive. Naming it the ‘Ronaldo effect’, the Italian division has received more publicity, attention and has also normalized the transfer of top players to Italy with his 100 million move from the Santiago Bernabeu.
It could be insinuated that the likes of Aaron Ramsey, Romelu Lukaku and many other talented players were influenced by Ronaldo to move to the Serie A league as well.
Recently, another top player, Christian Eriksen is close to completing his move to the Italian Peninsula. Eriksen is set to make a transfer to Inter Milan and has received hearty praise from ex-Tottenham man, Darren Anderton, who has claimed: “He’s a rare breed of player that can score as many goals as he can create. His passing and awareness are out of this world, he’s world class”. Eriksen will definitely prove to be an asset for Inter Milan in the Serie A league.
Well-known Italian journalist, Gianluca Di Marzio, spoke with Sky Sports and stated that the arrival of CR7 has had an overall positive effect and has helped attract players from other top leagues. “Since the arrival of Ronaldo, Serie A has improved. Something has changed in the way it is now possible to sign players. Two, three or four years ago, the players thought about the Premier League, La Liga or the Bundesliga,” he said.
Ronaldo is currently in his best form as we approach the knockout stages of the Champions League and this could be Juve’s year to lift the trophy that has been elusive for too long.