3 ways Juventus can lineup with Cristiano Ronaldo next season
Juventus have signed Cristiano Ronaldo for a club record fee of €105m from Real Madrid a couple of weeks back. In the interim, they have also resigned Leonardo Bonucci in a maddening swap deal which included their poster boy, Gonzalo Higuain joining AC Milan.
However, with the Portuguese legend joining the Italian club, they do not have to worry about bringing in a fox in the box. The world is well aware of Cristiano's goalscoring ability in the opposition's box.
Juventus have won the league title for the seventh consecutive time but have a long lost love story with the Champions League. The Old lady reached the semi-finals two times in the last four years but lost Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017. The fans in Turin are desperate to see the team winning the Champions League. With Mr.Champions League himself gracing the turf, it is all possible.
Massimiliano Allegri has now got a much star-studded squad having quality and depth all around the park. A lot of managers have used Ronaldo differently. During his early days in Portugal with Sporting CP, he used to be a traditional winger. Sir Alex Ferguson used him as a hybrid forward complementing Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Rafa Benitez used him as a winger occupying the central role. Zinedine Zidane used him as a centre-forward.
Ronaldo will be the leader of Juventus, the talismanic figure they have lacked since Alessandro Del Piero. Here is how Max Allegri can utilize the greatest goalscorer in recent times and can finally bring the Champions League home.
#3 4-3-3
This is a classic approach for a lot of the teams in the recent past. In Juventus, 4-3-3 can be used by Mr.Allegri in two alternations:
a) Ronaldo as a striker and Mandzukic/Douglas Costa playing on the left and,
b) Ronaldo patroling the left flank and Mandzukic
Cristiano will be more effective when going with the Option A as he is familiar with that style of play as the same tactics were used by Zinedine Zidane at Real. Paulo Dybala/Cuadrado will be providing width on the right meanwhile maintaining a free-flowing forward line.
The wingers will help attract centre-backs which will allow Ronaldo to get free space in the final third and get into a shooting position. He will pose more threat playing centrally being able to penetrate defences rather being isolated on the wing.
With Option B, due to Ronaldo's ageing legs, you would not see him possessing the good ol' trickery week in, week out. Mandzukic has never played as a full-fledged striker in bigger games which is a major disadvantage. Although, there will be no lack of creativity with Miralem Pjanic and Emre Can pulling the strings from behind.