Cristiano Ronaldo seemingly wanted revenge on Real Madrid according to a former Juventus teammate, whose comments on a podcast implied this.
Ronaldo left Los Blancos after winning a fourth Champions League crown in 2018 and had become the club’s all-time top scorer.
In an astute piece of business, president Florentino Perez sold the Portuguese to Juve for a reported fee of €117 million, which represented a profit of more than €20 million on what he paid Manchester United to secure the forward in 2009.
Ronaldo’s time in Turin can’t be considered a failure bearing in mind a pair of Serie A titles, two Supercoppas and the Coppa Italia.
This meant that Ronaldo won every domestic trophy on offer in Italy, but continental success alluded him.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was essentially signed to land Juventus a first UCL title since 1996 after five consecutive final losses yet came up short in achieving this objective.
But still he stood out to ex-teammates such as Giorgio Chiellini, who recently spoke on the BSMT Podcast.
“His personality in difficult times impressed me,” Chiellini explained.
“The first year he wanted to shake up the world and show that he was stronger than all of Real Madrid.”
“We were unlucky with injuries and lost to Ajax. If we had reached the final, he would have led us to victory,” added Chiellini.
By the Spanish press, this has been reported as Ronaldo harboring a desire to “take revenge” on Madrid for the manner of his departure and essentially discarding him.
Instead, though, Ronaldo has been made to watch on while the club from the Spanish capital clinched the iconic big-eared trophy a year after his exit in 2019 and then once more in 2022 – both times at the expense of Premier League giants Liverpool.
In 2021, Ronaldo again opted for a change of scenery by heading back to Manchester United but wasn’t able to capture any silverware at Old Trafford.
After a falling out with Erik ten Hag, his contract was rescinded by mutual consent as the following year drew to a close.
Given he now plies his trade at Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, the chance to win the Champions League probably won’t ever be on the table again for one of the greatest players of all time.
A return to Madrid could be, however, with El Nacional previously reporting that Perez had offered him a role behind the scenes at the Bernabeu.