Cristiano Ronaldo’s awful Juventus free-kick record as Juve struggle under Pirlo

Cristiano Ronaldo's awful free-kick record has been laid bare as Juventus continue to struggle under rookie boss Andrea Pirlo.

The Portuguese star has scored goals by the bucket-load since his mega £98million move from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018.

He has 92 goals in 119 games for the Old Lady, winning back-to-back Serie A titles and two Supercoppa Italiana trophies along the way.

But of those 92 strikes, just one has come direct from a set-piece situation such as a free-kick.

Ronaldo has taken 65 free-kicks since making the switch to Turin, which means he has a success rate of just over 1.5%.

His only successful strike came all the way back in July 2020 when he hit the third goal in Juve's 3-1 win over Torino.

Astonishingly, the figures also show that Juventus had more success from free-kicks before Ronaldo's arrival at the club.

Prior to CR7 pitching up at the Allianz Stadium, the Serie A side had scored 11 of their previous 74 free-kicks across two seasons.

Portugal's all-time leading scorer has found the net 46 times from direct free-kicks in his career, so his current wastefulness is something of a surprise.

Ronaldo's poor form from dead ball situations couldn't come at a worse time for Juventus, who are on a horror run under Pirlo.

The Italian giants have won two of their last six matches in all competitions – one of which was a 3-0 success over rock-bottom Crotone.

It means Juve are seven points adrift of league leaders Inter Milan, and their problems extend into the Champions League too.

Juventus suffered a shock last-16 first-leg defeat to Porto last month and are staring down the barrel of an early European exit.

Top trending sport stories right now

  • Tyson on 'almost killing himself'
  • O'Hara's sleeping pill anguish
  • Where are the Madrid's Galacticos now?
  • Retired Khabib now helping in a rehab

    • Boss Pirlo is under significant pressure, but he did find time to address Ronaldo's recent profligacy from dead-ball situations.

    He said: “Free-kick goals are important, they can decide games, especially against teams that sit deep.

    “Ronaldo is training well and is improving. He is more serene and he is convinced he is soon going to score from a free kick.”

    READ MORE: From David Beckham to Kylian Mbappe: Nine players who Arsenal almost signed

    Source: Read Full Article