JAKARTA - Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said that his decision to put Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench during the 2-2 draw against Udinese was not due to Ronaldo's request, as reported by the Italian mass media.
Sky Italia said Ronaldo had asked to come on as a substitute for the Serie A season opener against Udinese in order to stay fit when he inevitably leaves the club.
Portugal forward came off the bench in the 60th minute and almost scored the winner in stoppage time, but his header was ruled out as a VAR review showed he was already offside.
“Ronaldo is feeling fine; I spoke to him before this game, told him he would come off the bench," Allegri told DAZN.
"He got himself ready, he did well on the pitch."
Juve looked set to mark Allegri's first game for the Turin side with a win after two early goals from Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado put them in control of the game at Udinese's home in Udine.
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But two mistakes made by goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny made the visitors rise. Roberto Pereya's penalty and Gerard Deulofeu's goal also secured a point for Udinese.
FT | ⌛️ | Our opening day ends in a draw. #UdineseJuve #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/bSAG3xWXNm
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) August 22, 2021
"We've played a good game," added Allegri. "We should have done better in the second half where we couldn't manage the unexpected. This should be a lesson for us."
"We lost the ball too many times in the middle of the pitch during the second half. Maybe we're a little tired. However, you can't concede like this. We defended well before that goal, we didn't concede a shot on target."
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