Cristiano Ronaldo's personal interests 'not easy to manage', says Sarri

Juventus’s former manager Maurizio Sarri has opened up about his struggles in managing the Portuguese Talisman at Turin

Published : Jul 06, 2021 17:29 IST , Rome

FILE PHOTO: Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo talks to the coach Maurizio Sarri after a match (REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo)
FILE PHOTO: Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo talks to the coach Maurizio Sarri after a match (REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo)
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FILE PHOTO: Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo talks to the coach Maurizio Sarri after a match (REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo)

Maurizio Sarri has said that he found Cristiano Ronaldo difficult to manage during his time in charge of Juventus, as he had to consider the “personal interests” of the Portugal striker.

The 62-year-old was appointed as Lazio coach last month, a year after being sacked by the Turin club, where five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo has been playing since 2018.

“Ronaldo is not easy to manage, he is a multinational company with personal interests that must be combined with those of the team. I consider myself to be better at being a coach than a manager,” Sarri told Sport Italia.

“There are also a lot of positive aspects, because Ronaldo will bring results home in the end, and they are important results.

“He represents something that goes beyond the club, with more than 200 million followers on social media, but this is a problem in our society. Unfortunately, there is too much talk about players and little about teams.”

ALSO READ: No signs of Ronaldo leaving Juventus, says football director

Sarri led Juve to the Serie A title in 2019-20 but was sacked at the end of the season after losing to Olympique Lyonnais in the Last-16 of the Champions League.

He suggested that his work was unappreciated, particularly in light of a disappointing 2020-21 campaign under Andrea Pirlo, in which the Old Lady scraped into the Champions League places on the final day of the season.

“We won the Scudetto without even celebrating it, everyone just went to dinner on their own,” Sarri said.

“The league title was taken for granted, inside and outside the club. But this year I saw them celebrating finishing fourth, so maybe those were the ideal conditions for going to Juve.”

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