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Check out the Serie A Top scorers.
The Italian Serie A has been given a huge boost in terms of coverage and patronage since Cristiano Ronaldo joined Juventus in the summer. The Portuguese moved from Real Madrid to Turin in a deal reportedly worth £88 million.
At Real Madrid, the 33-year-old won almost everything there is, including the league, Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup, and four Champions League titles. Add that to his trophy-laden stint at Manchester United and it is understandable why Ronaldo opted to test himself in another country.
The Portuguese is a man who loves new challenges and it is obvious that he is bent on proving his critics wrong once again. In the Serie A, it took Ronaldo four games before he netted his first goal. But when that debut goal finally came against Sassuolo, he made sure it wasn’t the only one he scored in that game.
Currently, Ronaldo has two goals from four league games, having drawn blanks in previous first three Serie A matches for Juve. But there is good reason to believe that the former Real Madrid star will replicate his success in Italy too.
Here are four reasons why Ronaldo is very likely to finish as top scorer in the Serie A:
1) He’s finally ended his goal drought
Cristiano Ronaldo himself admitted after netting his first two goals for Juventus that at some point he felt under pressure to score. It may have taken him four games to do that, but once he’s off the mark, he will definitely be looking to add a couple more.
This is not the first time Ronaldo has started the season on a slow note. Last season, it was very much the same story at Madrid, with the Portuguese scoring less than five La Liga goals before December. However, he turned up the heat after the winter break and ended up scoring more goals than any player in Europe in all competitions.
Ronaldo is a serial scorer and now that the pressure of scoring is off his shoulders, he can relax and play his natural game. This, coupled with the fact that there is no player in the Serie A with the goal-scoring pedigree of the Portuguese, can only make him favorite for the top-scorer award.
2) He’s now playing as a focal striker
It’s a new dawn for Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus. The 33-year-old started his career as a pacey, skillful winger at Manchester United. However, age is gradually catching up with him, which has, in turn, necessitated the need for him to alter his game a bit.
Ronaldo has now developed into a goal machine who bides his time in the penalty box to strike. At Madrid, he used to start on the left wing but often moved to the center-forward position, with Karim Benzema drifting wide.
However, at Juve, it is clear that the Portuguese will be used as an out-and-out number 9. The decision to allow Gonzalo Higuain to leave means that manager Max Allegri views Ronaldo as the arrowhead of his team’s attack and will regularly use him as a focal striker.
Everybody is aware of Ronaldo’s potency in front of goal, and playing him as a striker only affords him more opportunities to find the back of the net. If he can net 50 goals playing from the wings, then just imagine how many he will net when played as a striker. The Serie A top-scorer award is definitely within his reach.
3) Ronaldo is a proven goal scorer
If anything about Ronaldo is in doubt, then it is certainly not his goal-scoring prowess. The Portugal captain has proven wherever he goes that he is the ultimate goal machine and has the ability to penetrate any defense, no matter how mean.
In England, Ronaldo dominated the league and left having won the goal king and best player awards. The 33-year-old replicated his successes in Spain too with Real Madrid. Now on a new adventure with Juve, it would be very difficult to keep the standards, especially in a new country.
However, if there is any player who has proven to always upset the odds, then it is Ronaldo. The ex-Real Madrid attacker has always scored goals for fun and there is no reason why he will not deliver in the striped black and white jersey.
Goal-scoring is an art and the Portuguese has mastered it. Intriguingly, he seems to be growing stronger despite his age and that means he still has a lot left in his tank and he is not stopping anytime soon.
4) Juventus adjusting their game to get the most out of Cristiano Ronaldo
For every potent striker, there is the need for him to have a supporting cast that creates the chances. As lethal as Ronaldo is, his own case is no different. The Portuguese used to have Rooney and Carlos Tevez as his partners in crime at Manchester United. At Real Madrid, he had Luka Modric, Karim Benzema, Toni Kroos and Marcelo as his creators.
Now, he needs such services from his Juventus teammates too to thrive. In the opening three games, it was evident that Ronaldo lacked that connection with his new teammates. However, in recent weeks, it looks like the Juve players are beginning to understand his movements.
Against Sassulo last week, Ronaldo and Douglas Costa combined very well on a number of times. His connection with Miralem Pjanic was also perfect as the Bosnian international was the one who set the Portuguese up for his second goal.
Understanding is very key in football, and once the Juve players have begun playing to suit Ronaldo’s game, it is only a matter of time before he tops the Serie A scoring charts.
