Gianluigi Buffon has claimed that Juventus lost its 'DNA' following Cristiano Ronaldo's arrival as the veteran goalkeeper reflected on why the Portuguese's tenure did not result in European success for the club.
Ronaldo, 36, joined the Old Lady in 2018 from Real Madrid to much fanfare, with the Turin outfit desperate for Champions League success having missed out in the 2017 final.
However, while Ronaldo won Serie A twice with Juve, the Italians drifted further from challenging for Europe's top prize and they finished fourth in the league last season before he moved to Manchester United.
Buffon was not in the Juventus dressing room for Ronaldo's first season, but returned from Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 and has given his verdict on why the Turin outfit did not reach Europe's summit.
'Juventus had the chance to win the Champions League the first year he arrived, which was the year I was at Paris Saint-Germain, and I couldn't figure out what happened,' he told TUDN.com, in relation to Juve's quarter final exit to Ajax.
'When I returned, I worked with CR7 for two years and we did well together, but I think Juventus lost that DNA of being a team.
'We reached the Champions League final in 2017 because we were a side full of experience, but above all we were a single unit and there was this competition for places within the group that was very strong. We lost that with Ronaldo.'
The Old Lady's woes have continued this season and they sit fifth in the league, 12 points adrift of champions Inter despite the best efforts of returning coach Max Allegri.
The 54-year-old was in charge of the team that made the 2017 final and has been tasked with rekindling those good times, and it is reported that he did not want Ronaldo as part of his rebuild when he came back to the club.
Allegri is claimed to have said: 'Get rid of Ronaldo, he's blocking the growth of the team and the club.'
The Portuguese superstar scored 101 goals in 134 games, twice winning the Scudetto as well as the Italian Cup.
Ledbeknp
447
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
FootballllGOD
376
if it was not for Ronaldo Juventus would be europa league this season
allshama
321
Ronaldo is no more can juve start winning already.. Did Ronaldo leave with there DNA
MadridMaldives
246
Dear Gianluigi Buffon, we don’t know much about Juventus' 'DNA' but we know a lot about CR7'S 'DNA' which can be easily understood if you watch 2017 UCL final (Juventus 1-4 Madrid) and 2018 UCL Quarter-finals between Juventus (0) and Real Madrid (3). DNA results of CR7: Only player to score ten goals against a single club in UCL (vs Juventus). 😎
Ameimessi
214
Cr7 fans trying to explain Cr7 is not the prob.
Madiklrt
174
if you actually watch the game and understand anything about football, you will notice that both Juve and Man United are playing for Ronaldo to score… the whole team is on provider mode, and when that happens others dont get to exercise their chances, so they flop over time…and this is never a one man sport, whether you have a clinical finisher like CR7 or Lewy that does not matter, they cant carry the team all the way all the time…You can call me a CR7 hater or a messi, barcra, psg, man city fan whatever you want… but this is the truth. The last team that had DNA and was bigger than Ronaldo was and is Real Madrid..collective effort.
pekadnptu
151
That's why Buffon has 5 UCL trophies to his name while CR7 has Zero [Crylaugh][Crylaugh][Crylaugh] What did they do in UCL with that 'Team DNA' for all the years before CR7 came?
Cidacdimtz
120
90℅ of the football fan recognize Juventus only because Ronaldo play for that club. Now that he's gone Juventus is a forgotten club again. Apart from Juventus fan I don't think the world football craziest fan will be watching Juventus.
DCKathimpu21
68
Buffon might be right.
Medekmos
34
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
Last season they finished 2nd because of covid outbreak, many players facing covid positive. Other top team focus on Champions league and other domestic cups. They only focus on EPL because they were defeated from all cups thats the main result. Look last season's point table not good. Sorry for bad english. i like to write more in deep but my english is so bad
SamiCamironezi
20
if it was not for Ronaldo Juventus would be europa league this season
What he meant is that they lost the momentum of their game. If he was not there they could have find better solutions to their problems rather than relying on him and thinking he's the one to solve their problems
chikondingulube
11
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
How many years did man United play without Ronaldo and what did they win? you call it doing fine if a team of man United caliber finish 2nd? don't hate the player hate the game
BT_CR7
11
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
they finished 2nd because Liverpool injury 🤕 blow and Chelsea appointed tuchel at last now you can watch how Liverpool perform this season anyways man utd will finished in top 4
bebcopsz
11
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
finished second because Chelsea played bad and Liverpool had so many injuries.. everyone in epl strengthened this season... so either perform or just put the blame on Ronaldo
GGMUSTAR
11
Ronaldo is no more can juve start winning already.. Did Ronaldo leave with there DNA
I can’t imagine from a Chelsea fan.God will bless you just ignore them,🤣Ronaldo is not there now see them In first position 🤣those clowns are just pained
maplopst
10
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
Same way Arsenal is in top 4 by mistake. Ur chilling with the big boys for only a short time but you'll soon go back to ur Europa Conference spot😭
Khyodatadic
9
Last season they finished 2nd because of covid outbreak, many players facing covid positive. Other top team focus on Champions league and other domestic cups. They only focus on EPL because they were defeated from all cups thats the main result. Look last season's point table not good. Sorry for bad english. i like to write more in deep but my english is so bad
last we were doing great without ronaldo and it is the fact you accept or not
fizzbizzie
8
This is not Manchester United app this is all football app FYI. Hate it or love it but Ronaldo is not a team player…look at benzema now🤩
Ronaldo is not a team player but yet has over 250 assists.. Messi is the one that isn't a team player while Ronaldo adapts to teams Messi looks for teams to adapt to him and that's why Barcelona has spent far more around Messi than the several clubs Ronaldo played In around Ronaldo and why Barcelona's was in a debt of over 1 billion and ended up in Europa League. ronaldo was the reason juventus qualified for champions league even with their abyssmal for last season and he is the reason man utd are still in champions League this season .
stormlegend4321
8
Cr7 fans trying to explain Cr7 is not the prob.
[image]
cuz of cr7 Juventus was able to reach UCL, man utd was able to make it to the top of their table........ scored 100 goals in 3 yrs at Juve and u say he was the problem......... grow up Messi's kids, he was the solution
maplopst
8
last we were doing great without ronaldo and it is the fact you accept or not
I also remember United didn't qualify for UCL KO stages without Cr7 last season but ur too blind not to talk about that huh. Pathetic Messi 🐕 with ManU badge
maplopst
8
but he was not as prolific as the first year he played there. instead look at Bruno dropping
Bruno dropping?? He's got like the most assists in UCL and most of his EPL n UCL assists r Cr7 goals, Bruno n Ronaldo actually r doing great together. Maybe u should stick to cricket or something
KishanMoh
8
We love Ronaldo yes but this is true….look at man United now they finished 2nd last season with ole who was even sacked….now players like greenwood,cavani even Felnadezi are not performing at all..praise Ronaldo whatsoever but he is a problem
last season united did well . but there's also the factor of liverpool injuries, Chelsea lampard problem.. now there's even westham, Conte's Tottenham... this is nothing like last season...
maplopst
8
Ronaldo is no more can juve start winning already.. Did Ronaldo leave with there DNA
Salute to you bruhh 👍
bikceikpz
8
Cr7 fans trying to explain Cr7 is not the prob.
[image]
dont need to explain...just see where juv right now in serie a 😎😎😎