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What's the story?
Cristiano Ronaldo has been backed by one of the former stars of his current club Juventus to bring the coveted UEFA Champions League trophy back to Turin sooner rather than later.
2006 World Cup winning Italian forward Alessandro Del Piero spoke to MARCA during his appearance on Heineken's UEFA Champions League Trophy Tour in Bali and said he was impressed by the Portuguese's performances for the Old Lady so far.
In case you didn't know...
Del Piero was Bianconeri's top-scorer in the 1995-96 edition of the Champions League, in which the Italian club were crowned the champions of Europe.
The club has made it to the finals of the tournament on five occasions since, but had seen their luck run out in the final game of the season on all of the occasions.
Juve broke their transfer record and paid €100m transfer fee for Ronaldo last summer, who has won the competition five times in the last decade to boost their chances of adding a third European title to their trophy cabinet.
The heart of the matter...
Juventus made a stunning comeback against Atletico Madrid in their UEFA Champions League RO16 fixture, courtesy Ronaldo's hat-trick and now Del Piero believes it is possible that the mercurial forward can win the competition for the club too.
He said that signing the former Manchester United winger was a part of the club's objective of restablishing their dominance in Europe. He told MARCA,
"That's what[hat-trick] Juventus bought him for. He is a champion who has won this title and who knows what it's like to play these difficult matches, with good football and by scoring goals. He is focused on the objective."
He also mentioned that he was genuinely surprised when the five-time Ballon d'Or winner chose Juventus over other big clubs in Europe. But says he made the right choice by coming to Serie A. He continued:
"Yes,[I was surprised] a little, but not too much. Ronaldo could pick whatever team he wanted to go to in the world and it was a good piece of business that he picked Juventus."
Finally, he told the reporter that he was confident in the 34-year-old's abilities to lead the club to glory sooner or later. He said:
"The project is about winning the Champions League with Ronaldo and he signed for four years. If you can win it in the first year then even better."
What's next?
With Juventus all but guaranteed to lift the Serie A for the eighth consecutive time, fans are hoping that they'll win the Champions League this summer too, due to the 'Ronaldo Effect'.
