Gianluigi Buffon has alleged that Juventus lost its ‘DNA’ following Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival.
The 36-year-old talisman joined the Old Lady’s in 2018 from Real Madrid to much buildup, with the Turin outfit desperate four Champions League success having missed out in the 2017 final.
Ronaldo won Serie A twice with Juventus, the Italians drifted further from challenging for Europe’s top prize and they finished fourth in the league last season before he moved to Manchester United.
Buffon has given his verdict on why Ronaldo changed the DNA of the Old Lady’s.
‘Juventus had the chance to win the Champions League the first year he arrived, which was the year I was at Paris Saint-Germain, and I couldn’t figure out what happened,’ he told TUDN.com, about Juve’s quarter-final exit to Ajax.
‘When I returned, I worked with CR7 for two years and we did well together, but I think Juventus lost that DNA of being a team.
‘We reached the Champions League final in 2017 because we were a side full of experience, but above all, we were a single unit and there was this competition for places within the group that was very strong. We lost that with Ronaldo.’
The Portuguese superstar scored 101 goals in 134 games, twice winning the Scudetto as well as the Italian Cup.