Juventus ‘made Cristiano Ronaldo a scapegoat’ for their problems – and THAT’S why he left, says Patrice Evra, after former team-mates Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini tore into the Man United star
- Cristiano Ronaldo spent three seasons at Juventus before leaving this summer
- Despite winning Serie A title twice, Juventus’s form collapsed last term
- Ronaldo was criticised during rocky campaign and unsettled him a the club
- Patrice Evra feels it helped motivate him to move back to Manchester United
Patrice Evra believes a desire for ‘love and respect’ were a key part of Cristiano Ronaldo returning to Manchester United from Juventus this summer.
Ronaldo made a sensational move late in the transfer window to rejoin the club where he starred and grew into one of the greatest footballers in the game during a successful spell at Old Trafford between 2003 and 2009.
After leaving for Real Madrid to even more success, he joined Juventus in the summer of 2018 but despite helping them win Serie A twice could not guide them towards success in the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo (left) rejoined Manchester United this summer where he linked up with manager and former team-mate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The move came after the forward left Juventus following their poor 2020-21 campaign
However, Juve’s dominance of Italian football fell apart last term as they only just clinched a top four spot under new manager Andrea Pirlo – although Ronaldo was criticised for the team’s rapid decline in form.
Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci has been among those who have hinted that the team was too centred around Ronaldo.
He said earlier this month: We had lost this characteristic [playing as a team] from Juve, we were playing with a great champion like Ronaldo and we wanted to put him in a position to always do well, thinking he could solve all the matches. This year we are rediscovering that right humility that it serves to regain victory.’
Giorgio Chiellini (left) and Leonardo Bonucci have both criticised Cristiano Ronaldo
Bonucci’s defensive partner Giorgio Chiellini has also stated that Juve would have been better off if Ronaldo had decided to leave earlier to give them better preperation for this season, stating: ‘Had he gone away on August 1st, we would have had time to prepare better.’
Now his former United team-mate Evra, who also played for the Italian giants after leaving United, claims Ronaldo felt he was being unfairly treated at the Allianz Stadium and opened up on why he felt the 36-year-old abandoned his project in Italy.
Despite criticism, Ronaldo was key at Juventus to help them win Serie A twice in three years
But Patrice Evra thought Ronaldo was left undermined by Juve chairman Andre Agnelli (left)
‘Because he needs love and respect,’ Evra told La Repubblica. ‘He had understood that in Turin, he was becoming the scapegoat for Juventus’ bad results.
‘However, many forget that it’s not easy to win in Serie A. [Andre] Agnelli’s target is to win the Scudetto every year, not the Champions League.’
As well as the criticism, Evra also stated that Ronaldo may have felt undermined by Juventus chairman Agnelli who stated that his role as a first-team star would slowly become phased out.
The former France left-back believes Agnelli’s public comments, no matter how innocent in nature, should have been kept private.
‘Allegri’s words also had a role in Ronaldo’s exit,’ continued Evra. ‘He said “Ronaldo won’t play all games,” there’s no reason to say it publicly, just keep it private because Cristiano is affected from things like this.’
Evra (right) and Ronaldo were team-mates at Manchester United during his first spell
United though are struggling this term despite Ronaldo’s six goals, having recently been beaten 5-0 by Liverpool in the Premier League at Old Trafford
Juve have failed to kick on since Ronaldo’s exit, having suffered a dreadful start to the season under returning boss Max Allegri, sitting a lowly seventh and a huge 13 points off early pace setters Napoli.
However, neither has Ronaldo’s return sparked an uplift in form at Manchester United despite his early impressive record of six goals from nine games.
Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is under huge pressure following a humiliating 5-0 defeat by Liverpool as the Red Devils head into a big clash at Tottenham on Sunday also in seventh place and eight points off the Premier League summit.
Meanwhile, Ronaldo announced on Thursday that his girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez is pregnant with twins after sharing an image captioned that their ‘hearts are full of love’ on Instagram.
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