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Former Juventus star Fabio Cannavaro has explained that Bianconeri’s fall has been due to Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure earlier this year.
Ronaldo left Juventus to re-join Manchester United and since then the Serie A giants have side have struggled to find goals.
The Portuguese international was the club’s top goal-scorer over the 2020-21 season, as his 29 goals helped them finish in the top four and secure Champions League football.
Following his departure, Juventus have managed to score just 27 goals in 19 league games this season; the joint lowest among the top ten Serie A teams.
Cannavaro explained that Ronaldo is a “coach-saviour” as his goals help paper over other cracks in the team.
"I was not surprised by their [Juventus] drop, I think it was inevitable."
“Don’t forget that they [Juventus] lost the coach-saviour, Cristiano Ronaldo. With him, they started every game 1-0 up.
"Juventus must deal with the decline of a few players and with a few struggling youths," Cannavaro said.
Juventus slowly finding their feet under Max Allegri after Cristiano Ronaldo's departure
Juventus failed to win Serie A last season for the first time in ten years, and that resulted in a transitional season under former manager Andrea Pirlo.
After a disappointing campaign, Pirlo was sacked and former manager Max Allegri was hired. One of the key decisions earlier this summer was to let go of Cristiano Ronaldo, and the repercussions have been felt.
While Ronaldo’s departure has eased the load on the financial coffers, the absence of a prolific goal-scorer has affected Juventus this season.
After a slow start to the season that saw them fail to win their opening four Serie A games, Juventus have now climbed back up to fifth.
They are just four points behind Atalanta, who are fourth, and have progressed to the knockout stages of the Champions League as well.
Cristiano Ronaldo, on the other hand, continues to perform well. The forward is Manchester United’s top scorer in the league with seven goals so far this season.
Both Juventus and Manchester United, however, are in a similar situation. They are far from challenging for the title and will hope to secure Champions League football at the very least this season.
