Cristiano Ronaldo treats Georgina Rodriguez on her birthday
Cristiano Ronaldo has been branded ‘selfish’ by Antonio Cassano after Juventus’ Champions League defeat to Porto on Wednesday night. The Portugal international failed to shine for Andrea Pirlo’s side. And their hopes of reaching the last eight of the competition have now suffered a huge blow.
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“I have always said, considering that he's a phenomenon and has scored a billion goals, that it could be difficult with Andrea Pirlo's idea of football,” he told Bobo TV after the game.
“He scores a goal per game, it's true, but struggles with the ideas of Andrea.
“He has always been a bit selfish, he doesn't care about others scoring goals, he's the kind of player who lives to score.
“He doesn't live for the play, the great match, he lives for the goal and at this moment, the situation is getting worse.
“Years go by for everyone and he is having difficulties. Juventus are trying to change their ideas and play a different type of football, due to the qualities of Ronaldo.’”
Cristiano Ronaldo: Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo was furious after Porto defeat (Image: GETTY)
Pirlo himself was furious, insisting Juventus gifted Porto the win with sloppy individual errors.
“We had prepared well for this game, it was not the attitude we wanted, but conceding a goal in the opening minute when we handed it to them on a silver platter made everything more difficult," Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia.
“When you concede a goal after one minute, a strange one at that, it’s natural the players will lose confidence, especially against a side that knows how to clam up in defence.
"Our approach was wrong after we conceded the goal ... We had planned on attacking the deeper spaces, but if you take too many touches, things get complicated. We weren't smart, the ball was moved around too slowly.
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“Porto got the game immediately on the track they wanted.
“With such a packed fixture list, it’s normal you can’t always maintain absolute focus and the right tempo, but it shouldn’t have happened in the round of 16 of the Champions League.”
Juventus will face Porto in the second leg on March 9.
Before then, they face Crotone, Verona, Spezia and Lazio in Serie A.