There’s no doubt that Cristiano Ronaldo will have been desperate to play in Juventus’s final Serie A match of the season against AS Roma on Saturday night.The legendary forward still had an outside chance of finishing the campaign as Serie A’s top goalscorer and winner of the European Golden Shoe.But Juve boss Maurizio Sarri - no doubt with Ronaldo’s reluctant approval - rested his star man with the Champions League just around the corner.The Italian champions face Lyon next Friday night and must overturn a 1-0 first-leg defeat to advance to the quarter-finals.Juve need Ronaldo fit and raring to go for that fixture, so the decision was taken to leave the Portuguese star out of the squad against Roma.Ciro Immobile scored his 35th league goal of the season in Lazio’s 3-1 defeat to Napoli, leaving him four goals clear of Ronaldo. The Italian has subsequently wrapped up both the Serie A top goalscorer and European Golden Shoe awards.
Juventus also slumped to a 3-1 loss in their match against Roma. But the players and coaching staff were still in high spirits as they lifted the Serie A trophy at the Allianz Stadium.
Some people on social media said Ronaldo was looking a little grumpy during the match, but he was anything but grumpy as he collected his winners’ medal.
The 35-year-old, who netted an impressive 31 goals from 33 Serie A appearances, was filmed doing a little dance and punching the air as he made his way onto the stage.
Watch the footage here…
And this video shows him receiving his second Serie A winners’ medal…
Ronaldo, stood towards the back, then celebrated as the trophy was hoisted into the air by his teammates…
This was Ronaldo’s seventh league title and the 32nd official trophy of his extraordinary career.
Many football fans feared Ronaldo would struggle in a new league when he took the brave decision to leave Real Madrid for Turin in 2018.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was 33 at the time and everything appeared to be so comfortable for him at the Bernabeu.
But everyone should know by now that doubting Ronaldo in any situation isn’t wise.
After conquering England and Spain, Cristiano has now dominated the Italian league, scoring 52 goals in 64 games while winning back-to-back titles.
And if he can inspire the Old Lady to glory in the Champions League this month, it will provide further ammunition for those who claim Ronaldo should now be regarded as the greatest footballer of all time.