For the past decade, Cristiano Ronaldo has basically been given free rein on the pitch so we would have loved to be a fly on the wall when it was decided that the Juventus forward would not take every free-kick for his new club.
Ronaldo essentially had a monopoly over free-kicks during his spells at Real Madrid and Manchester United, regardless of the distance from goal, but he has been forced to share that responsibility with current teammates Miralem Pjanic and Paulo Dybala.
The Portuguese superstar is apparently behind both Pjanic and Dybala in the pecking order when it comes to free-kicks from close range because of his less-than-stellar conversion rate.
“Ronaldo is a smart guy,” Juve manager Massimiliano Allegri said.
“He knows Pjanic and Dybala are excellent free-kick takers, and they are going to take those close to the area.
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“When there are free-kicks from far away, Ronaldo can kick them, but we’ve decided that Dybala and Pjanic will take the set pieces close to the area.”
Ronaldo’s knuckleball technique tends to be more successful from further out as he has a remarkable ability to make the ball move significantly in the air, which has caught plenty of goalkeepers out over the years.
The 33-year-old is expected to start against former club United in the Champions League on Wednesday night and will hope to get on the scoresheet after coming close on his return to Old Trafford two weeks ago, only to be denied by David de Gea.