"Cristiano Ronaldo has become a big problem for Juventus"

The fallout from Juventus’ recent setbacks continues, with Ronaldo accused of being a hindrance ever since he set foot in Turin.

Antonio Cassano claims Juventus have only had one big problem since 2018 in Cristiano Ronaldo, who is not the player “he was four years ago”.

Cassano believes former Juventus managers Massimiliano Allegri and Maurizio Sarri all struggled to handle Ronaldo, and the club’s current coach Andrea Pirlo has suffered the same problem this season.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has been in the firing line since a disappointing Champions League last-16 exit and a shock 1-0 home defeat to Benevento in Serie A hasn’t helped.

🗣 Antonio Cassano on Cristiano Ronaldo

"Juventus signed him to win the Champions League, but they've done worse with him than they've done before. They'd also won the Serie A title without him. I think he's been a failure." 👀 pic.twitter.com/QxZueVxbHD

— SPORTbible (@sportbible) February 28, 2021

“Juventus got rid of a coach [Massimiliano Allegri] who, in the last 20 or 30 years, has produced the best football in Italy and his big problem was one: Cristiano Ronaldo,” Cassano said on Christian Vieri’s Twitch channel Bobo TV.

“It was for [Maurizio] Sarri and it is for Pirlo.

“Juve already got burned last year, because Sarri was unable to find the right chemistry with him and some other players and what do you do?

“You take another coach who would like to play football and you still have Cristiano Ronaldo as a blocker for that.

“If you have chosen the path of [playing a certain type of] football, Ronaldo is not good. He is someone you have to give the ball to and he scores, thinking about his records. Ronaldo is not what he was four years ago.

“They signed him to win the Champions League, and they failed.

“Pirlo, as a coach, is a rookie and he hasn’t got the experience to handle the player with the highest media profile in the world on his team because he can create problems for you.

“[Dejan] Kulusevski, for example, is very conditioned by Ronaldo, he is not free, he is always looking for him. If you have young people without a strong mentality, then problems arise.”