MX23RW : Wednesday, December 25 15:41:53| >> :600:99455:99455:

Cristiano Ronaldo focus

Ronaldo scored a stunning goal but his former club came out on top.

A moment of magic from Cristiano Ronaldo was not enough for Juventus to get the better of his former club Manchester United as a late turnaround saw the Champions League clash end 2-1 in the visitors' favour.

Here, Press Association Sport analyses the Portugal star's overall performance.

Creativity

The Portuguese set up the best chance of the first half, pulling the ball back for Sami Khedira to hit a shot against a post. He put in a couple of decent crosses and dragged one shot so wide it almost inadvertently set up a scoring chance for a team-mate. Another good cross in the second half almost picked out Juan Cuadrado for a header, while his lay-off for Miralem Pjanic to shoot could easily have killed United off.

Goal

Ronaldo produced a stunning 65th-minute finish to break the deadlock at Juventus Stadium. It was his first Champions League goal for the Turin club and will be hard to beat. Leonardo Bonucci's raking pass went over the head of Victor Lindelof and as the ball dropped, Ronaldo smashed a superb volley past David de Gea.

Attacking threat

Ronaldo struggled to find space in the first half so when he had a sight of goal, he took it. Twice he let fly from distance and both times the ball fizzed wide. He saw an early volley attempt blocked by Lindelof and took too long on the ball on two occasions when it looked like he could have got a shot off, with Chris Smalling and then Ander Herrera getting in his way. Scored a sublime goal and it looked like he would add a second in the 74th minute but he opted to play the ball back to Cuadrado and the Colombian blazed over the crossbar.

Attitude

Ronaldo was playing against his former club
Ronaldo was playing against his former club (Martin Rickett/PA)

Seems much more relaxed than he was in his Real Madrid days. His frustration with his team-mates was obvious at times at the Bernabeu but he seems happier in Italy. Ronaldo was eager to impress against his former employers and popped up in various positions as he looked to see more of the ball and attack.

Overall

It was an energetic display from the forward and he found himself in plenty of good positions but his wasteful team-mates struggled to pick him out. He produced some nice lay-offs and decent dribbles before a stunning goal to put his side ahead, but ultimately his eighth goal in 14 matches for Juventus counted for little as United came out on top.

ga('create', 'UA-72310761-1', 'auto', {'name': 'pacontentapi'});
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'referrer', location.origin);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension1', 'By Press Association Sport staff');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension2', 'c2304565-2d5a-4a38-ae95-27a4fbbf9f7d');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension3', 'paservice:sport,paservice:sport:football,paservice:sport:uk,paservice:sport:world');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension6', 'story');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension7', 'composite');
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension8', null);
ga('pacontentapi.set', 'dimension9', 'sport:football');
ga('pacontentapi.send', 'pageview', { 'location': location.href, 'page': (location.pathname + location.search + location.hash), 'title': 'Cristiano Ronaldo focus'});

ID:340888: cacheID:340888:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:9439:
Written by
P A
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Anthony Martial in action for Manchester United on November 3, 2018
Read Next:
Man Utd 'preparing £45m Martial deal'
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Atalanta BCAtalanta17131342192340
2Napoli17122326121438
3Inter Milan16114142152737
4Lazio1711153224834
5Fiorentina1694329131631
6Juventus17710028131531
7Bologna167722318528
8AC Milan167542516926
9Udinese177282126-523
10Roma175482323019
11Empoli174761619-319
12Torino175481722-519
13Genoa173771426-1216
14Lecce174491129-1816
15Parma173682333-1015
16Como173681830-1215
17Hellas VeronaHellas Verona1750122140-1915
18CagliariCagliari173591628-1214
19VeneziaVenezia1734101730-1313
20Monza171791523-810


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!