Allegri makes Ronaldo confession after Juventus' shock defeat

The Juventus manager opened up about Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit after seeing his side suffer a 1-0 home defeat to Empoli.

Massimiliano Allegri has admitted Juventus have lost ‘an extraordinary player’ in Cristiano Ronaldo and called for unity from his squad.

In their first game since Ronaldo agreed to re-join Manchester United, Juventus lost 1-0 to Empoli on Saturday. Leonardo Mancuso’s 21st-minute goal sent Allegri’s men crashing to defeat in Turin.

Juventus had 18 shots on goal compared to Empoli’s 11, but only five of them were on target. It was a toothless performance from the Bianconeri and left them with just one point from two Serie A games.

“Cristiano spent three years at Juventus, he scored goals, which he is very good at, he’s an extraordinary player, but we cannot think about Ronaldo from now on,” Allegri told DAZN post-match.

“I have a fine squad. We simply must realize that we can’t just dominate every match. We need to come together and this will help us in the future. I am optimistic, always.”

Juventus, who sit down in 13th place in Serie A, return to action on September 12 away to Napoli.