Ronaldo asks Juventus to rally around for next season

Cristiano Ronaldo has asked the Juventus side to rally around after the club's ousting from Champions League and the sacking of head coach Maurizio Sarri.

Cristiano Ronaldo has asked the Juventus side to rally around after the club's ousting from Champions League and the sacking of head coach Maurizio Sarri. Ronaldo had scored twice on Friday to give Juventus a 2-1 win over Lyon in the Champions League round-of-16 second-leg, but it was not enough to prevent them going out from the Champions League on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate draw.

"The 2019/20 season is over for us, much later than usual but yet sooner than we expected. Now it's time for reflection, time to analyse the ups and downs because critical thinking is the only way to improve. A huge club such as Juventus must always think like the best in the world, work as the best in the world, so that we can call ourselves one of the best and biggest clubs in the world," Ronaldo wrote on Instagram. "Winning the Serie A once again in such a difficult year is something that we are very proud of. Personally, scoring 37 goals for Juventus and 11 for the Portuguese National Team is something that makes me face the future with renewed ambition and desire to keep doing better and better each year. But the fans demand more from us. They expect more from us. And we have to deliver, we must live up to the highest expectations," he added.

Juventus on Saturday had appointed Andrea Pirlo as the new head coach of the side. This came hours after the sacking of Maurizio Sarri as the coach. He was ousted as the coach after Juventus was knocked out of the Champions League. The 41-year-old Pirlo, who has now signed a two-year contract with the club, had a legendary career as a player that led him to win everything, from the Champions League to the World Cup in 2006.

In his four years at the centre of the Juventus midfield, Pirlo won as many league titles, a Coppa Italia and two Italian Super Cups. "From today he will be the coach for people of Juventus, as the club has decided to entrust him with the technical leadership of the First Team, after having already selected him for Juventus Under 23," Juventus said in an official statement.

Under Sarri, Juventus were crowned champions of Italy for a ninth successive season after beating Sampdoria 2-0 at the Allianz Stadium on July 26. But the side picked up only two victories from their final eight matches.

Juventus finished the 2019-20 Serie A season with 83 points and this is the lowest number of points the side registered in the last decade. The side had also conceded more goals (43) than in any of their previous eight title successes.

Juventus also lost both the Italian Super Cup and Coppa Italia finals under Sarri. (ANI)

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