Cassano claims the Portuguese captain is struggling under Andrea Pirlo.
Juventus suffered a shock 2-1 defeat to Porto in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16, causing disappointment among the fans.
Cristiano Ronaldo, Serie A’s top scorer at the moment, had a sombre night as the Portuguese surprisingly failed to live up to his expectations of a big match player.
Now, the former Italian international Antonio Cassano has slammed Ronaldo as selfish, and added that he is still adapting to the playing style of Andrea Pirlo.
“I have always said, even though he is a phenomenon and has scored a billion goals, that with Andrea Pirlo’s idea of football, he could run into difficulties,” Cassano said.
“He scores a goal per game, it’s true, but he struggles with Andrea’s idea. He’s always been a bit selfish. He doesn’t give a damn about others scoring goals.”
Cassano’s claim is an exaggerating one, and as a star-like Ronaldo can not be judged on the performance against Porto where his teammates failed to back him up.
Ronaldo, who recently turned 36, has racked up a total of 16 goals in Serie A this season and his tally skyrocketed to more than 30 last term.
Last time, he ended up short in Serie A Golden Boot, with Napoli striker Ciro Immobile winning the race eventually.
Now, the former Real Madrid man is looking to oust Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s likes, Romelu Lukaku, to the prestigious Capocannoniere for the first time since moving to Turin.
Crazy Ronaldo Statistics
Ronaldo’s contribution under Pirlo in current season – CR7 scored 37% of Juventus goals
Considering three seasons, Cristiano Ronaldo has been playing for Juventus, it would be an achievement, if he can equal or better Del Piero record this season.
Including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Lionel Messi goals in Knock-out stages of UEFA Champions League would give this better perspective of how effective Cristiano Ronaldo has been in Champions League.