Cristiano Ronaldo at Juve-Atalanta, why didn’t Pirlo replace him?

It had to happen sooner or later. In moments of difficulty, Cristiano Ronaldo got used to putting the team on his shoulders and putting Juve back on the right paths, those of victory.

With Atalanta, however, the inevitable: the Portuguese got a fence, getting a 5 in the book quite clear and never questioned. Too many errors against Gollini, too strong the wrong penalty in the 61st minute that would have given Pirlo the fifth consecutive victory, between the championship and the Champions League. On the other hand, on the very wrong night of the other teammate, Morata, the Portuguese played against the Nerazzurri the worst game since he arrived at Juventus. It had to happen, indeed, but Juventus fans can rest assured: it is difficult for someone like him to repeat such performances.

from disk

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Juve’s penalty taker is and will continue to be the Portuguese, there is no doubt. This season the goals from eleven meters are already 6, of which two very heavy at the Camp Nou – which allowed the Bianconeri to win the Champions League group – and as many fundamental goals against Genoa, which have been solved a more complicated match than expected for Pirlo. With the error against Gollini, Ronaldo’s missed penalties at Juventus have become 4 of 30 attempts, a very high average. In the other 3 cases the team had fared better: against Chievo (January 2019) and Sampdoria (July 2020) Juve had still won, against Milan (July 2020, in the Italian Cup) the Bianconeri had drawn, but the change happened the same. There is also another aspect that should not be underestimated, as important as the bad day of the two Juventus forwards: the evening of grace by Pierluigi Gollini, who in addition to stopping his first penalty in Serie A after 16 attempts has substantially closed the blind and got the ball out. ‘impossible. Looking back at the shows yesterday, it seems almost strange that Chiesa managed to pierce it.

the doubt

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Cristiano’s crooked moon, yesterday, lasted until 90 ‘. Despite everything, Pirlo decided not to replace him, removing Chiesa first and then Morata from the field. Would it have been different with another player? No one can really say for sure. However, two things are certain: the first is that a player like Ronaldo, bad night or not, does not take him off the pitch with joy. The second is that last year, with Sarri, it became clear that the Portuguese was poorly digesting substitutions: it had happened to him against Milan, in the League, and against Lokomotiv, in the Champions League, and in both cases he had not taken it out. . very well. The coach has the task of managing the team on the field and maintaining balance in the locker room, and if he made this decision he must have had his reasons. Here are Pirlo’s reasons: “I didn’t think about replacing him because Morata got nervous: he took the yellow card and didn’t want to lose him again by disqualification.” And then again: “If Cristiano had marked him the trials would have been different.” But the doubt remains: what would have happened if Cristiano had left the field?