He tested negative, was summoned, started at the bank. Ronaldo only entered the second part of the visit to Spezia, scored twice (including a penalty to Panenka), and gave the victory to Juventus (1-4).
19 days and dozens of tests later, Cristiano Ronaldo tested negative for Covid-19. He lost the National Team’s game against Sweden, Juventus’s Serie A clashes with Crotone and Verona, and the Champions League commitments to Dynamo Kiev and Barcelona. He was back this Sunday against Spezia. But not without first causing some controversy.
Still, in isolation, the Portuguese player shared a photo with the description “Kaizen Philosophy”, in reference to the philosophy that advocates “continuous procedural and incremental changes that sustain a high level of efficiency”. Now, in statements to the newspaper AS, a Spanish psychologist guarantees that this type of thinking is in no way suited to Ronaldo’s personality. “This philosophy is not suitable for people with enormous egos, overconfidence, and mania for greatness. The principle that governs the Kaizen method is a continuous and gradual improvement, which is what drives us to achieve the major changes that bring us closer to the achievement of our goals. I do not see Cristiano Ronaldo with the characteristics of a person who needs to use this method and should not resort to him in such a light way ”, explained Beatriz Villagrasa.
However, despite this, the truth is that the Portuguese player overcame Covid-19, tested negative after more than two weeks in isolation, and the inclusion in the Juventus call for this weekend was confirmed by Andrea Pirlo even before the call of the coach being officially announced. “He is fine, wants to work with his teammates again and will travel with the team. He trained at home, but it’s not like training on the field. I don’t think he will play at first, but he is an important player and he comes with us to Cesena ”, said the coach of the preview of the visit to Spezia.
Cristiano Ronaldo started right on the bench, with Morata and Dybala keeping the places in front of the attack. In midfield, Arthur and Weston McKennie started, with Ramsey and Rabiot coming out of eleven, and Chiesa and Bentancur continued to complete the Juventus midfield. Playing already after AC Milan beat Udinese thanks to another decisive goal from Ibrahimovic, Pirlo’s team was obliged to win to maintain the four points of disadvantage for the Rossoneri and not to risk being behind Atalanta and Inter Milan, who had also won this match.
On the 123rd anniversary, Juventus quickly took control of the game, naturally, and was attacking mainly from the right side, where McKennie appeared very closely with Cuadrado and Dybala’s movements. It turned out to be the North American midfielder to assist for the goal that opened the scoring: Danilo took a brilliant vertical pass for the penalty area, McKennie appeared unmarked and handed over to Morata, who only needed to touch the empty goal (14 ′). The bid was still under review by VAR but the goal was confirmed, with all the Juventus players running to congratulate the Spanish striker, who in the middle of the week against Barcelona had three goals canceled by the video referee.
Morata’s fate reappeared shortly afterward, with the striker seeing another goal canceled out of play (23 ′), and Juventus was close to increasing the advantage with several good quality plays. After half an hour, however, Spezia reacted and started to gain a few meters, with Ricci getting very close to the tie (31 ′). The goal appeared soon after, through Pobega, who took advantage of a Demiral diversion to beat Buffon following the passivity of the Bianconeri defense (32 ′). Until the break, McKennie was on the verge of scoring but saw Chabot, with a huge cut, avoid the goal (44 ′). At the end of the first half, it became more and more likely that Cristiano Ronaldo would return to the competition.
The Portuguese player did not start in the second half – neither he nor anyone else, since Pirlo made no substitutions at halftime – and Juventus showed signs of wanting to return to the game as it started, with intensity and creativity in the opposing midfield. Even so, Spezia maintained a high pressure and a well-designed strategy that mainly took advantage of the defensive weaknesses of the Bianconeri, who are clearly the Achilles’ heel of the team. With the tie extending in time, Cristiano Ronaldo ended up entering when it was just over half an hour before the final whistle: to the place of Dybala, who left clearly unhappy after being one of the best in the field, unlike the unlit Chiesa and Bentancur. But what is certain is that Ronaldo, 19 days of isolation and dozens of tests later, only needed three minutes to make a difference.
In the second move in which he was involved, the Portuguese player appeared in the central belt, received from Morata, withstood the adversary pressure, went through the goalkeeper, and shot low towards the deserted goal (59 ′). Upon returning to the competition, the Portuguese player took three minutes to score and also marked the 17th anniversary of the first goal for Manchester United, on November 1, 2003, the day he started an international goalkeeping career.
Chabot saw Buffon, with a huge defense, steal his tie (64 ′) and Pirlo reacted to the advantage with the entries of Ramsey and Rabiot. The French midfielder also needed only a few moments to score: Chiesa found Rabiot on the left of the penalty area and the ex-PSG finished an individual shot with a low shot after having taken an opponent out of the lead in fine detail (67 ′). Until the end, Chiesa still suffered a penalty and Cristiano Ronaldo, in the conversion, scored the second goal in the game against Panenka and reached the five this season in Serie A in three games.
Juventus have returned to winning ways after two consecutive draws in Serie A (the two games that Ronaldo has not been in) and are now in second place in the standings provisionally, as Sassuolo and Naples have not yet played this journey. The Portuguese player lost four games, returned and not even half of a match played: but it was enough to double, give the victory to Pirlo’s team and still sign a practically unprecedented Panenka.
