14 January 2024
134 appearances, 101 goals. These are the numbers of Cristiano Ronaldo in his adventure with the Juventus jersey, a story that began in the summer of 2018 and ended at the end of August 2021. The indelible trace of a champion who continues to write timeless pages of world football, having left his mark in the three years spent at Continassa.
On Tuesday, 16 January, Coach Max Allegri's Juve will face Sassuolo in Serie A, and there's a particular connection with the Portuguese star who, against the team from Emilia, scored his first Juventus goal. There is nothing trivial in the signing of Cristiano, who waited until the 4th day of the championship to start open his black and white account.
NO EASY TASK
It's September 16, 2018, and the season has started in the best possible way: nine points earned from the first three matches of the new season. Matchday 1 at the Bentegodi finished 3-2 against Chievo thanks to Bernardeschi's goal in injury time, the following week it was 2-0 against Lazio in a packed Allianz Stadium, with the third success in a row coming courtesy of Matuidi's winner on the Parma pitch. First place in the standings looks good, but something is missing: Cristiano's goal. The Juventus fans are craving it, and the newspapers can't keep quiet about it. This brings us to Matchday 4. De Zerbi's Sassuolo presents a tough challenge: they're on 7 points, having beaten Inter in their first game of the season. The stadium is lively again, with Coach Allegri lining up Dybala-Mandzukic-Ronaldo together, a mind-boggling trident. Juventus push, but Sassuolo keep it tight, the only danger signs coming from a diagonal shot by Mandzukic which was saved, before Lirola almost nets an own goal, saved only by the quick reflexes of Consigli. 0-0 at the break.
THE ALLIANZ ERUPTS
But in the 50th minute, lightning strikes. A corner kick from Dybala finds Bonucci, his effort spins into the center of the area as Ferrari clumsily deflects the ball onto the post, and who else but Cristiano is there to pounce, burying the ball from close range to score his first for his new club. It's like a cork bursting from the bottle, as the Allianz erupts with uncontrollable joy. Sassuolo come close to equalising with Boateng's backheel finishing wide, but the stage has only one tenor: Cristiano from Madera. Halfway through the second half, substitute Douglas Costa defends the ball and serves Emre Can. Ronaldo's run is frightening: he covers 40 meters of the pitch at breakneck speed, receives the German's pass and slots it home for his second. The fans cannot contain themselves, disregarding Babacar's strik, as all that matters was their presence there, that day at the Allianz, to witness history.
The match ends 2-1, as Cristiano put in the first two pieces of his Juventus puzzle that season, which ended with 28 goals, considering all competitions. That afternoon against Sassuolo is written in the history books, the iconic first page of a champion in the city of Turin.
