Pirlo calm after Ronaldo heroics

Juventus head coach, Andrea Pirlo asserted simply that Cristiano Ronaldo “did his job” after the Portuguese super star netted a double to inspire Juventus to a 4-1 victory over Spezia in the Serie A on Sunday (November 1).

Ronaldo sat out Juventus’ last four games in all competitions following a positive coronavirus test.

His return coincided with a return to form for La Vecchia Signora who had failed to win in any of their last four matches and Pirlo expressed indignation at Juve’s inability to put away the numerous chances they had all game.

“We created chances in the first half too, it was a shame that we were level at half-time after creating so many occasions,” he told a news conference.

“We have to be more clinical in front of the goal, because when you have the opportunities, games must be finished off. Then Cristiano came on and he did his job.

“We are not looking at the league standings for now, because we know we dropped some points along the way.”

While he only came on in the 56th minute, Ronaldo’s two shots on target were more than any other player on the pitch could manage.

Juve – who are third in Serie A – headed to Spezia after just one win in four games, including losing to Barcelona in the Champions League.

But Pirlo said he had ignored any criticism of Juve, who make the trip to Ferencvaros on Wednesday.

“No, I don’t listen to that as a coach, I didn’t as a player,” he said.

“I just think about doing my job on a daily basis to try and improve my team.”