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Football

29th Oct 2021

Patrice Evra claims Ronaldo left Juventus because they made him a ‘scapegoat’

Callum Boyle

Evra believes that Ronaldo’s desire for ‘love and respect’ convinced him to leave Juventus

Patrice Evra has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo left Juventus in the summer because he felt like the club had made him a ‘scapegoat’ for their poor performances.

Ronaldo left the Bianconeri in the summer to rejoin Manchester United after spending three seasons in Turin, winning Serie A twice but failing to go further than the quarter-finals of the Champions League.

Last season was a disappointing year for Juve as they failed to continue their dominance as the best team in Italy, finishing just fourth in the league, with Ronaldo receiving much of the blame for their underwhelming campaign.

And Evra, who was a former teammate of Ronaldo and also former Juventus player, believes that the 36-year-old wanted to rejoin United in order to feel ‘love’ and ‘respect.’

Speaking to La Repubblica Evra said: “He needs love and respect.

“He had understood that in Turin, he was becoming the scapegoat for Juventus’ bad results.

“However, many forget that it’s not easy to win in Serie A. [Andre] Agnelli’s target is to win the Scudetto every year, not the Champions League.”

The Frenchman also feels that Angelli’s public comments about Ronaldo showed a lack of understanding and that the forward would have been hurt by the negative comments.

“Allegri’s words also had a role in Ronaldo’s exit, said Evra.

“He said ‘Ronaldo won’t play all games,’ there’s no reason to say it publicly, just keep it private because Cristiano is affected from things like this.”

Post-Ronaldo life hasn’t been any better for Juventus as they continue to stutter in the league. Despite the return of Max Allegri, the Old Lady find themselves in seventh place and 13 points adrift of table toppers Napoli.

Meanwhile fortunes aren’t much better for Ronaldo at United either. The club are also seventh and go into Saturday night’s game against Tottenham Hotspur off the back of a 5-0 mauling to rivals Liverpool.

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