Despite a 3-0 defeat to FC Barcelona on the night, Cristiano Ronaldo’s progress in pre-season continues to please the Juventus manager.
Cristiano Ronaldo performed well against Barcelona and is in ‘good condition’, says Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri.
The Portuguese ace started up front alongside Alvaro Morata in Juventus’ friendly with Barcelona on Sunday. He played right until half-time before Allegri replaced him with Dejan Kulusevski.
Unlike most of the Barcelona and Juventus players, it was Ronaldo’s first match of pre-season. Therefore, he is still shaking off some rust and was naturally a little off the pace at times. But Allegri was pleased with what he saw from his star man in Catalonia.
“He had a good match,” the Juventus boss told Sky Sport Italia of Ronaldo.
“He is training very well, and he is also in good condition. Tonight, he made himself available to the team as always.”
Allegri also expects Paulo Dybala to return to group training on Tuesday once he has recovered from a muscle injury.
Memphis Depay, Martin Braithwaite, and Riqui Puig’s goals condemned Juventus to a 3-0 defeat to Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
Allegri sets a points target in Serie A
The Bianconeri reappointed Allegri as manager this summer after losing the Serie A title for the first time in nine years. The Italian is expected to restore the club to its previous glories in 2021/22.
But while Allegri remained cautious on Juventus’ title chances for the new season, he believes 90 points will be enough to win Serie A.
“Usually whoever wins the title starts as favorites, so I say Inter [Milan],” said Allegri on the upcoming title battle.
“But on the 21st when the season starts we will all start from zero points and we will try to score 90 to win the championship.”
What next for Ronaldo and Juve?
Ronaldo and the team have one last friendly coming up against Atalanta this Saturday in Turin.
Then it’s back to business as Juventus will visit Udinese on August 22 for the first game of the new Serie A season.
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