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Earlier this week, Juventus completed the shock signing of Cristiano Ronaldo for a fee of nearly £100 million. In doing so, they acquired one of the top players in world football, and bolstered their already strong front line.
There is no doubting Ronaldo’s pedigree following his nine years at Real Madrid. His goal scoring record in that time is comparable only to that of Lionel Messi. He played 438 games in all competitions for Real, and scored a remarkable 450 goals. In that time, he also won two league titles, and four Champions Leagues, including in each of the past three seasons.
It was a bit of a surprise to see him move to Italy this summer. He has been, and was up until the end of last season, a crucial player at Real Madrid, and a man whose name has become associated with Real Madrid in recent years.
There have been suggestions in the past couple of the years that he may be happy to leave Spain, but given his importance to Real, and how much he would cost in terms of transfer fees and wages, a move away always looked unlikely.
By signing for Juventus, he adds to an already impressive front line at the Allianz Stadium. The 33-year-old joins Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain and Douglas Costa amongst others, to create what on paper looks like one of the strongest attacking line-ups we have seen in world football.
The task for manager Massimiliano Allegri is working out how to fit all these players into this team and get the best out of them. Here are four ways he could do that.
#1 Ronaldo on the left of a front three
Ronaldo made his name playing out on the left wing for Manchester United, and for the majority of his spell in Spain, he played there. For the last couple of years, he has been playing down the middle for Real Madrid, giving him more opportunities in front of goal. This has also worked as Ronaldo gets older, as despite how fit he still appears to be, he doesn’t put in as much running as he used to do.
But he has his best impact on the game out on the left wing. It allows his to collect the ball a bit deeper, and either create an opportunity for himself, or bring others into play. With the likes of Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala and Mario Mandzukic available, Juventus have options through the middle, and with Ronaldo on one of the flanks, it could work to get the best out of them as well.
#2 Higuain partnering Ronaldo up front
Juve toggled with formations a little last season. In the past, they have very much been a team who set up with three centre backs in a 3-5-2 formation. Last season there was a bit more flexibility, and they would often go with four at the back. However, if they were to go with the 3-5-2 more regularly next season, it might be a way to get more goals out of Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain.
There have been rumours as to whether Higuain will join Maurizio Sarri at Chelsea, but if he sticks around, he could form an excellent partnership with Ronaldo. This is something that might work well, having seen Ronaldo perform well in partnership with Karim Benzema last season. Higuain is a very different player to Benzema, but if the pair could link up, it would be a very dangerous front two.
#3 Ronaldo in the middle of a front three
We have already spoken about him potentially playing on the left of the front three, but he could play down the middle as well. Juventus have an embarrassment of riches going forward, with a number of wide players available to them. As well as Ronaldo, they have Juan Cuadrado, Paulo Dybala, Federico Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa, who are all capable of playing on the flanks.
Despite being naturally a winger, and making his name as a winger, Ronaldo has changed his games in recent years to make himself one of the best centre forwards in the world. The likes of Dybala are too good to be left out of the side, and with Ronaldo down the middle, this means they could include those two, as well as Douglas Costa, in the same side, and in positions that come naturally to them.
#4 All guns blazing
In the last couple of years, we have seen some star-studded frontlines in world football. At Barcelona, we saw Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar. At Real Madrid we saw Ronaldo, Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema, while last year at PSG, they were able to field a front line of Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Edinson Cavani. There is a chance that Juve could put out something similar next season.
There is no reason why they can’t field a front four, with Ronaldo and Higuain down the middle, and Costa and Dybala on the flanks. It may leave them slightly exposed defensively, but with those four in attack, they would back themselves to score more than the other team, regardless of who they are playing.
