Luca Toni called Ronaldo’s attitude in question following the jersey throwing incident involving the Juve star against Genoa.
A great champion has to lead by example
Juventus moved within 12 points of the Serie A Inter leaders, scoring a 3-1 home win over Genoa last Sunday, with Alvaro Morata, Weston McKennie and Dejan Kulusevski all heading for the Pirlo side. Despite the victory, Cristiano seemed unhappy after the final whistle, as he threw the jersey to the ground before storming the tunnel, while Luca was of the opinion that the 36-year-old was wrong not to stay on the pitch and celebrate with his teammates.
The former Bianconeri striker said that he is very important to Juve and that he is a top scorer and has scored a lot, but he is not impressed by some of his attitude to the group when he recalls his performance. He also said that coincidence or not, you don’t throw your shirt away and that sometimes a great champion has to lead by example.
Cristiano was furious after the game
Initially, it was reported that Cristiano Ronaldo threw the jersey to the ground due to a failure to show up to score against Genoa, missing out on a number of clear chances during the match. However, it was later explained that the Portuguese simply gave his jersey a ball to one of the boys as a gift, and the young man saw how he picked it up before the forward made his way to the dressing room.
Pirlo’s opinion on this case
Andrea Pirlo was questioned on Cristiano’s perceived angry attack in a post-match interview, and jumped to defend the five-time Ballon d’Or winner. He said it was okay that he wanted to score a goal, especially seeing that the match turned out in a certain way and it was part of the attitude of champions who always want to leave their mark.
Juventus survived a tumultuous 2020-21 campaign that saw them pull out of the Champions League in round 16 and let their Serie A crown grip slip through, but Cristiano’s final third exit was as strong as ever. The veteran forward has hit 32 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions, including 25 in the Italian top race, four ahead in the Golden Boot Lukaku of Inter.