Juventus boss Max Allegri shrugs off Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Man United

Massimiliano Allegri has played down the impact of Cristiano Ronaldo's departure to Manchester United, saying the Portuguese star 'didn't want to play for Juventus anymore.'

The 36-year-old completed his return to Old Trafford for an initial fee of £12.85million shortly before the transfer deadline.

Ronaldo could make the first appearance of his second spell at United when they entertain Newcastle in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

But over in Turin there is a desire to draw a line under Ronaldo's three years with the club.

'Ronaldo didn't want to play for Juventus anymore, so he returned to United,' Juventus coach Allegri said ahead of their trip to Napoli on Saturday.

'It would have been his last season at Juventus, so we anticipated what we would have done next summer.

'Cristiano spent three amazing years at Juventus and we wish him the best, but life goes on.

'I don't like to think about what could have happened, in life you need to be practical.

'Here at Juventus, the group has always won trophies, not the single footballer.

'We have this characteristic in our DNA made of self-love and sacrifice. In order to be competitive and win, we must have ambition and passion.'

Ronaldo only played half-an-hour of football for Juventus this season before moving to United. He came off the bench for the final 30 minutes at Udinese on August 22, scoring a last minute headed winner that was disallowed by VAR in a 2-2 draw.

Juventus then surprisingly lost 1-0 at home to Empoli as Allegri's return to the club started poorly.

In all, Ronaldo scored 101 goals in 134 matches for Juventus over his three seasons there, helping them win two Serie A titles and last season's Coppa Italia.

Juventus will be without several key players for their trip to Naples, with Allegri deciding not to pick Paulo Dybala, Alex Sandro and Rodrigo Bentancur following their trips to South America for World Cup qualifiers. Juan Cuadrado is also ill.

'I decided to leave the South Americans at home because they will return too late,' Allegri said.