Juventus star Leonardo Bonucci has warned Manchester United over the negative factor Cristiano Ronaldo brought to Turin.
Ronaldo returned to Manchester United this summer after 12 years away from the club, and he is already making an impact, scoring four times in five appearances ahead of Wednesday evening’s clash with Villarreal.
Bringing Ronaldo back to Old Trafford was a no-brainer for United, especially given the reduced price he came available for having gone into the final year of his contract Juventus.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, according to Juventus star Bonucci, who has warned of how Ronaldo inadvertently impacted Juventus negatively, despite being the top scorer in Serie A last season.
“This was the thing. The idea that one player, even the best in the world, could guarantee Juventus victory,” Bonucci told The Athletic.
“Cristiano’s presence had a big influence on us. Just training with him gave us something extra but subconsciously players started to think his presence alone was enough to win games.
“We began to fall a little short in our daily work, the humility, the sacrifice, the desire to be there for your teammate day after day.
“Over the last few years, I think you could see that
“Last season, we finished fourth and won the Coppa Italia because we became a team again.
“If you had thrown a piece of wood in the dressing room before those games it would have caught fire such was the electricity running through it. We missed that.
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“Maybe it was taken for granted that if we gave the ball to Cristiano he’d win us the game.
“But Cristiano needed the team as much as we needed him.
“There had to be a trade-off because it’s the team that lifts the individual even if the individual is the best player on the planet.”
Clearly, Bonucci knows what he is talking about having played in a number of successful teams, and that’s something United will have to guard against.
They aren’t exactly coping too well, either, winning just one of their last four games ahead of facing Villarreal on Wednesday night.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will be hoping to rest of his men can step up to supplement Ronaldo’s clear threat.