Always a natural in front of the camera, Cristiano Ronaldo gave his best moody expressions as Juventus launched next season’s home kit late last week.
Whether he will actually be wearing it or not has suddenly become a matter of debate with reports surfacing in France that Ronaldo had his heart set on joining Paris Saint-Germain before the lockdown.
Apparently, Ronaldo dreams of playing alongside Neymar and Kylian Mbappe before his career winds down amid dissatisfaction at the way Juventus have been playing under Maurizio Sarri.
Cristiano Ronaldo struck a moody pose as Juventus launched their new home kit on Thursday
The Portuguese star seems to have been brooding for a while but it could work for Juventus
Juventus may have successfully defended their Serie A title but the ‘Sarriball’ philosophy so pleasing on the eye at Napoli hasn’t exactly been transplanted to Turin.
In the end, they won a ninth consecutive Scudetto by just a solitary point from Inter Milan and had it not been for Ronaldo’s imperious scoring form post-lockdown they could easily have blown it.
The Portuguese star’s brooding mood wouldn’t have been eased when his team-mate Paulo Dybala was awarded the Serie A ‘MVP’ award despite scoring 20 league goals fewer than he did.
And despite his late-season goal glut, Ronaldo also missed out on a fifth European Golden Shoe award to Lazio forward Ciro Immobile, something Sarri didn’t help by resting him for the last game against Roma.
Ronaldo is obsessed like nobody else when it comes to personal accolades and has hoarded them throughout his career, so missing out on these two will come as a blow.
Ronaldo missed out on the Serie A ‘MVP’ award to team-mate Paulo Dybala (right) despite scoring 20 league goals more than the Argentine this season
Ronaldo saw his Golden Shoe hopes vanish after being rested for last weekend’s Roma game
He did manage a smile, however, when the Serie A trophy was presented after the match
Yet for all that, the positive news for Juventus is that a brooding Ronaldo could well work in their favour when it comes to ending their 24-year wait to win the Champions League.
If the 35-year-old can channel his best Incredible Hulk ‘You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry’ mood, a sixth Champions League title, at a third club, is within reach.
It’ll be a tall order. First, Juventus must overturn a 1-0 deficit to Lyon in their last-16 tie at the Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
They should be more than capable of doing this. While Juventus were able to complete their domestic season, finishing only last weekend, Lyon have played just once competitively since Ligue 1 was cancelled in late April.
The Italian side have all the momentum, as does Ronaldo with 10 goals in 11 league games post-restart, not to mention the 16 goals in 11 games just before the pause.
Cristiano Ronaldo was considering a stunning move to Paris Saint-Germain before lockdown
Reports in France claimed that Ronaldo wanted to play alongside Neymar (L) and Mbappe (R)
But after Lyon, they’ll have to face either Manchester City or Real Madrid in the quarter-finals and then, in all probability, one of Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semis.
So it really will need to be a super-charged Ronaldo in order to end Juve’s agonising wait to be champions of Europe.
And it’s hard to escape the feeling that Sarri’s current vintage are on the tier below the likes of Real, City, Barcelona and Bayern when it comes to class. It will fall to Ronaldo to bridge the divide.
‘As usual at the decisive times he makes the difference, he is ready to perform another miracle,’ said Juventus keeper Wojciech Szczesny this week and they will all hope so.
Maurizio Sarri hasn’t been able to replicate his full ‘Sarriball’ philosophy so far at Juventus
Juventus were woeful when they lost 1-0 to Lyon in the last-16 of their Champions League tie
It was Ronaldo who inspired a stunning fightback as Juventus beat Atletico last season
The report in France Football about PSG said Ronaldo’s frustrations came to the boil following a sub-standard performance by the whole team against Lokomotiv Moscow in the group stage back in October.
His scoring form since, however, suggests Ronaldo did eventually reconcile himself with his mission in Turin even if the summer speculation over a move away isn’t likely to go away.
The financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic means very few, if any, of Europe’s leading clubs will be able to afford Ronaldo even if they wanted him.
All of which plays into Juve’s favour in the next few weeks. Remember the last time they trailed after the first leg of a Champions League knockout tie?
That was last season, at the same stage, when they trailed Atletico Madrid 2-0 only to win the return leg 3-0 thanks to Ronaldo’s inspired hat-trick.
Once again, they could find that a moody Ronaldo is the best type of Ronaldo.