THE CIRCUS surrounding Cristiano Ronaldo and Maurizio Sarri has continued with Antonio Cassano stating the Juventus player has a “big problem” with his boss.
Sunday saw Ronaldo break a four-game goal-less streak with a penalty during an otherwise poor performance versus Sassuolo.
Ronaldo and Sarri are working together for the first time this season.Credit: AFP
Juve lost their lead in Serie A after the 2-2 draw magnified the discontent many feel is bubbling under in Turin.
Speaking on Mediaset’s Tiki Taka show, Cassano said: “I think Ronaldo has a big problem with Sarri.
“Everything started with two consecutive substitutions, which will irritate any player.
“In my opinion, there’s a problem between them and Juventus have succeeded in playing it down.”
Fans first caught a glimpse of issues surrounding Sarri and Ronaldo when the winger was taken off in the Champions League win at Lokomotiv Moscow.
With ten minutes to go and the game tied at 1-1, the Portuguese star was visibly frustrated when being substituted and some concluded that his fury was directed at his coach.
Quick to dismiss those rumours, Sarri pointed out that Ronaldo was instead annoyed at a niggling injury causing pain in his knee and hip.
Just days later and the 34-year-old was withdrawn again, this time with only 55 minutes on the clock against AC Milan as he stormed out the stadium.
Once again, speculation pointed to a rift between player and manager as onlookers attempted to figure out what Ronaldo muttered at Sarri as he left the pitch.
An international break arguably came at the wrong time for Juve as Ronaldo went off and scored four times for Portugal to qualify his team for Euro 2020.
At his club, he hadn’t scored in three games and was subbed off in two of them – a very rare situation for Ronaldo to find himself in.
Ronaldo was irate at being replaced in the Lokomotiv clashCredit: EPA
Sarri has publicly sought to play down any problems with the forward, hailing his work in training as “remarkable”.
As for Ronaldo, he admitted last week that he has been “limited” by injuries but that “everyone knows that I don’t like to be substituted”.
With Juventus’ biggest name struggling to produce his best on the weekend, many are questioning whether to blame injuries, Sarri or even Ronaldo himself.
Watch Ronaldo block Dybala’s goal-bound shot which would have won game for Juventus
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
