5 Reasons why Juventus may not win the Champions League this season
With Juventus just one win away from expectedly winning the Serie A title for an incredible eighth consecutive season, their attention would turn to the one competition which they truly have their hearts set on winning.
With record 34 Serie A and 13 Coppa Italia wins, Juventus are by far the most successful club in Italian football history. However, for all of their domestic dominance, the Bianconeri have woefully underperformed on the continent.
The Turin giants have triumphed in the Champions League a paltry two times, but have not won Europe's premier club competition since 1997, painfully losing four finals since then.
This season, they have made steady gains and their incredible comeback to eliminate Atletico Madrid in the last round gave their fans renewed hope that this is the season where their beloved club could go all the way.
However, for all of their optimism, Juventus might fall short once again this season. In this piece, we shall be highlighting five reasons why they might not win the Champions League this season.
#5 Ronaldo's injury
Cristiano Ronaldo was the star of the show in the last round against Atletico Madrid, almost single-handedly eliminating the Spaniards with a hat-trick to extinguish their dreams of contesting the CL final on their home turf.
Two weeks later, the 34-year-old was on international duty when he pulled up in the first half clutching his legs, with Juventus fans fearing the worst.
Tests revealed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner had hurt his hamstring and was ruled out for a period of three to four weeks, but knowing Ronaldo and his superb dedication, he worked extra hard in a bid to return earlier, with reports indicating that he had to be restrained from playing through pain for Juventus.
Updates from the club suggest that he is in line to make his return in the match against Ajax, but regardless of his superhuman abilities, he is sure to not be at 100%.
Even worse is the fact that hamstrings are always recurring injuries and for every sprint Ronaldo makes, pressure is put on the hamstring, further increasing the chances of a recurrence.
Given that Ronaldo just turned 34, his recovery speed is significantly less than it was when he was younger and as such, Juventus fans would be hoping that he does not suffer another injury setback heading into this crunch stage of the Champions League as it could negatively affect their chances of triumphing.
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