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Old Lady’s boss says that he will try to conserve his star player’s energy after starting the title defense with a win.
Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo has admitted that Cristiano Ronaldo will be off this season as the Portuguese superstar helped his team to a victory on the opening night of Serie A.
The Italian champions began their quest for a 10th consecutive title with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria at Allianz Stadium in Pirlo’s first official match in charge of the club.
New signing Dejan Kulusevski scored on his debut in the 13th minute before veterans Leonardo Bonucci and Ronaldo completed the victory in the second half.
When Pirlo was asked how he plans to use Ronaldo, who is known to dislike being on the bench, this season, Pirlo revealed that the 35-year-old would rest on select points during the campaign.
“We are thinking of [how to use Ronaldo] and we talked about it, “Pirlo told Sky Sport Italia After the match.
“He is not tired yet, as we have just started, but when we get to less important matches, we will try to give him a break.
“He’s a very smart guy who knows his body very well, so he knows when it’s time to rest or step up. When he will play is up to him.”
Pirlo made some surprise picks in his first game as a coach, with the 20-year-old Kulusevski making his starting debut alongside Ronaldo in attack, while on loan signing Weston McKennie was parachuted into midfield and Gianluca Frabotta did solo. his second appearance in Serie A.
The Juve legend explained the reasons for their first XI picks, revealing that the team’s limited preparation for the new season meant that some players were better prepared to play than others.
“Frabotta had a good game. Alex Sandro got injured, so I chose the young under-23 who is training very well with us,” Pirlo said. “I did not consider any risk to use it.
“The American (McKennie) came in having started preseason training in Germany, so he was in better shape than others. He made some mistakes on his passing, but it was the first game, we can forgive him for that.
“It will take time to put all the various ways of playing together. I don’t want to just copy and paste anyone’s ideas, I have my own ideas and I want to adapt from the teams that inspired me.”
“We haven’t had much time, as the preseason started late and then they were out for international service. We only had one friendly as well, but it was a good debut and we will continue to work on it.”
Juventus’ next game will be in Serie A against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on September 27.
