The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Juventus

  • EPL: Higuain on song as Chelsea thrash Huddersfield

    Gonzalo Higuain scored his first brace with Eden Hazard also got two goals in Chelsea’s 5-0 victory over Huddersfield at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

    The win ended a troubled week for boss Maurizio Sarri, following Wednesday’s 4-0 loss to Bournemouth – their heaviest league defeat in 23 years.

    Higuain, who signed on loan from Juventus in the January transfer, opened the scoring in the 16th minute.

    N’Golo Kante played in Higuain with a delightful reverse pass to beat the offside trap and the Argentine striker finished first time, lashing his shot in at the near post.

    In another development, Ashley Barnes’ penalty deep into second-half stoppage-time got a 1-1 draw for Burnley against fellow strugglers Southampton at Turf Moor.

    Barnes calmly stroked home from the spot after Jack Stephens had handled the ball inside the box under pressure from substitute Peter Crouch.

    Wolverhampton Wanderers sealed their place in the top half of the Premier League with a third successive top-flight win as Everton once again conceded from a set-piece.

    Ruben Neves fired the visitors ahead with a penalty after Leighton Baines had fouled Matt Doherty. Andre Gomes  equalized for Everton before Wolves restored their lead from a free-kick. Raul Jimenez headed home Joao Moutinho’s set-piece before Leander Dendoncker sealed a thoroughly deserved three points with a volley.

  • Tax fraud trial: Ronaldo makes car park walk through appeal

     

    Juventus Stars Cristiano Ronaldo has requested to be allowed to enter into the court room through the car park for his safety ahead of his alleged tax fraud case in Spain on Tuesday. The former Real Madrid striker is expected in Madrid to attend to a trial for tax evasion where Spanish prosecutors are asking for a 23-month prison sentence and fine.

    The 33-year-old Portuguese striker, who left Real Madrid last July, is expected to plead guilty after he agreed a settlement worth 18.8million euros (£16.9million) with tax authorities last summer.

    He is however unlikely to serve any time in prison as Spanish law states a sentence of less than two years for a first offence can be served on probation.

    Spanish newspaper El Mundo reports that Ronaldo sent a formal request to the court to be allowed to avoid the normal walk into the court building ‘to guarantee his safety’. It is not clear yet whether the written request has been granted or not

    Prosecutors initially alleged Ronaldo had defrauded 14.7 million euros (£12.95 million) but confirmed on Friday they were accusing him of defrauding just over 5.7 million euros (£5.3million).

    Ronaldo’s trial is due to start at 10am on Tuesday at Madrid’s Audiencia Provincial court.

    Spanish daily ABC reported on Friday that Ronaldo will try to get his suspended prison sentence swapped for an extra fine of 350,000 euros (£308,000) when he appears in court on Tuesday.

    Interestingly the tax fraud trial of former Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso will also start in Madrid the same day Ronaldo appears in court.

    The 37-year-old is expected to plead not guilty to an alleged 2,032,845 euro (£1.8 million) tax fraud over the years 2010 to 2012 when he was at Real Madrid.State prosecutors are seeking a five-year prison sentence.

    His trial will take place at the same court building Ronaldo has been summoned to on the same day, although in a different courtroom.

  • Aaron Ramsey agrees five-year deal with Juventus

     

    Aaron Ramsey has agreed a five-year deal with Juventus and will leave Arsenal at the end of the season. The 28 year old will thus be set to team up with former Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo who joined Juve shortly after the World cup in Russia.

    Ramsey has been in talks with the Italian champions since last year and is now expected to end his 10-year stay at Arsenal.

    According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, an agreement had been reached for Ramsey to move to Turin in the summer.

    The deal is said to be worth £36million, with the Wales international set to earn £140,000-a-week

    ‘Aaron Ramsey to on next June, done deal,’ Romano tweeted. ‘His agent will be in Italy soon to meet Juventus director Paratici and sign the contract for next season. 

    The 28-year-old was told by Arsenal at the back end of last year that he was free to leave the club.It was a decision reached by the club’s senior executives, who believed it was the right move in the long-term interest of Arsenal.

    Juventus chief Fabio Paratici said earlier this year in an interview with Sky Sports Italy that Ramsey is an ‘excellent player.’ ‘He’s an excellent player. For years he’s been performing at a top level,’ said Paratici. ‘His contract is expiring and we are always attentive to the potential developments. So he falls in that category.’Will he join us in the summer? That remains to be seen. ‘At the moment he’s an Arsenal player, certainly we aren’t the only ones following him.’

    Ramsey who joined Arsenal in 2008 from Cardiff for £4.8 million has made over 252 appearances for the Emirates Stadium landlords, scoring over 38 goals

  • Ramsey to leave Arsenal for Juventus

    Arsenal midfielder, Aaron Ramsey has agreed to a five year deal with Italian giant Juventus, at the end of the 2018/2019 season.

    The deal is worth around 36 million pounds.

    Ramsey, who joined the Gunners from Cardiff in 2008, and scored 52 goals in 252 Premier League matches, will undergo a medical test on Sunday, after being told by Arsenal manager Unai Emery that he is not part of his plans at the Emirates.

    Read Also: Aaron Ramsey header hands Gunners FA Cup glory

    The deal is expected to be finalised after Juventus’ Super Cup fixture against AC Milan next Wednesday.

    It is reported that he will earn up to 140,000 pounds a week with the Italian club, which rounds up to 7.2 million pounds a season

    Major highlights for Ramsey at the Emirates will include his  winning goal in the FA Cup final against Hull City in 2014 and Chelsea in 2017, clinching three FA Cup titles in the process. He however had injury challenges, which turned out a dent in his career

  • Real Madrid more of a team without Ronaldo – Bale

    Gareth Bale says Real Madrid work together more as a collective unit without former talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, after the Portuguese forward moved to Juventus in the close season.

    The Welsh winger is thriving in the absence of Ronaldo and Madrid have three wins from four La Liga matches.

    Bale is Madrid’s key weapon as the Champions League starts again this week, with Real facing Roma on Wednesday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

    “It’s maybe a bit more relaxed (without Ronaldo),” Bale told the Daily Mail. “I suppose there is more of a team, more working as one unit rather than one player.”

    Madrid’s all-time top goal scorerRonaldo was crucial to the club’s three consecutive Champions League wins under former coach Zinedine Zidane, although it was Bale who scored twice against Liverpool in the 3-1 triumph in May’s Kiev final.

    Bale came on from the bench and said he was annoyed about not starting the match, with that rage fuelling him to score a brilliant overhead kick.

    Read Also: Merkel visits Algeria to discuss migration, terror

    “(I was) angry. Quite angry, to be honest. Obviously, I felt I deserved to start the game,” said Bale. “I’d been scoring goals. So yeah, I suppose it was hard to put the anger aside.”

    With Ronaldo out of the way he is essential to new manager Julen Lopetegui’s Madrid, with the defending champions ready to start their bid for a fourth consecutive trophy on Wednesday in Group G.

  • Italian optimism wanes after Portugal loss

    The optimism which followed Roberto Mancini’s appointment as Italy coach in May quickly drained away, following their 1-0 loss to Portugal on Monday as thoughts turned to Nations League relegation.

    Mancini made nine changes to his starting line-up against the European champions.

    He continued his search for the right players to help him rebuild Italy, following their failure to qualify for this year’s World Cup.

    But the four-time world champions went down with barely a whimper to a Portugal side, who allowed themselves the luxury of resting Cristiano Ronaldo and Italy’s performance suggested Mancini has a long road ahead.

    “Italy always going downwards,” said the Gazzetta dello Sport, summing up the general sentiment which followed the team’s fourth competitive match without a win.

    The only players to leave Lisbon with any praise were goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, who at 19 appears to be the natural heir to Gianluigi Buffon,

    His Milan team mate Alessio Romanogli in defence and forward Simone Zaza.

    Italy’s midfield was disjointed and even Federico Chiesa, who lit up their 1-1 draw with Poland on Friday after coming on as a substitute, failed to provide the same spark.

    Mancini fielded Bryan Cristante and Jorginho in central midfield with Chiesa and Giacomo Bonaventura on the flanks in a formation,

    This occasionally resembled the much-maligned 4-2-4 used by his hapless predecessor Gian Piero Ventura.

    Read Also: World Cup: Uruguay knock Portugal out

    Zaza was partnered by Ciro Immobile in a two-man strike force but, not for the first time, Immobile, a prolific scorer for Lazio, was a let-down playing for his country.

    With Italy short of world-class players, Mancini insisted the only way forward was to test less experienced players even when they lack playing time at club level.

    These included Mattia Caldara who has yet to make his debut for AC Milan following his move from Juventus and played on Monday.

    Mancini has complained that Italian players are being squeezed out by foreigners at Serie clubs.

    “It is true that we have many young players and we are in an experimental phase; however we must continue on this path and pick ourselves up as soon as possible.

    “If a young player doesn’t play at a high level then it’s clear that they’ll struggle in the first few games, however, we knew this before,” he said.

    If Italy finish bottom of the three team group, they will be relegated to League B of UEFA’s new competition a price Mancini said they would have to risk paying as he continued to experiment.

    “We do not like losing, it’s bad, but it’s also true that we have to take risks and get experience in these games, which emphasised that the priority was to qualify for Euro 2020.

    “We knew there were problems in this squad, because otherwise Italy would have qualified for the 2018 World Cup,” said Mancini.

    The European Championship qualifying competition, which is separate from the Nations League, starts in March.

  • Ronaldo tries again for first goal, Inter for first win

    Cristiano Ronaldo will try again to score his first goal for Juventus and Inter Milan will attempt to secure their first league win of the season in the weekend’s Series A games.

    The World Player of the Year added another prize to his collection on Tuesday when his bicycle kick goal for Real Madrid away to Juventus in April won UEFA’s vote for the goal of the season.

    The goal also earned him a standing ovation from the Juventus crowd at the end of that game and Ronaldo said recently that their reaction partly influenced his decision to join the Turin side in a surprise move in July.

    The 33-year-old, however, would probably settle for a tap-in or a penalty to get off the mark for his new side when they visit promoted Parma on Saturday.

    Given that Ronaldo scored 311 goals in 292 La Liga matches for Real Madrid, two scoreless games for Juventus is already beginning to feel like a drought — and his failure to hit the back of the net certainly has not been for want of trying.

    Ronaldo was denied by an inspired display by Chievo goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino in his opening game, won 3-2 by Juventus, and again by Lazio’s Thomas Strakosha in their 2-0 win last Saturday.

    He also missed an open goal in that game but in doing so unwittingly set up an assist for Mario Mandzukic.

    Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri said Ronaldo just needed more time.

    “He’s intelligent and understands that Italian football is different to that in Spain, I know everyone is waiting for his first goal, I’m happy with the way he is fitting in.”

    Parma have been to the fourth division and back since their 1-0 win over Juventus when the teams last met in 2015.

    Shortly after that win, Parma were relegated and subsequently kicked out of the league after going bankrupt.

    As often happens in Italian football, they were quickly re-founded, accepted into the fourth tier of the league and managed three straight promotions for the quickest possible return to Serie A.

    Juventus, Napoli and surprise package SPAL are the only teams with a maximum six points after two games while Inter, touted as possible contenders before the season, find themselves with one point after a miserable start.

    Following a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo in their opening game, they squandered a 2-0 halftime lead against Torino last Sunday and were held 2-2.

    This prompted Coach Luciano Spalletti to suggest that the psychological weaknesses they had last season had not gone away.

    “These moments have characterised Inter in recent years, it also happened last season.

    “To remain at a certain level then we must still build a specific type of mentality. To win every single match isn’t easy and we must still make steps forward.

    “Clearly the reality is that the team is struggling with pressure.” (Reuters/NAN)

  • Decision to leave Real Madrid was “easy’’ – Ronaldo

    Cristiano Ronaldo says the decision to leave Real Madrid for Juventus in Italy after nine trophy-filled years in Spain was an easy one to make.

    The 33-year-old joined the Italian champions last month on a four-year deal, ending a stint in Spain that saw him win two La Liga titles and four UEFA Champions League trophies.

    Read Also: Ronaldo scores in first Juve appearance

    “It was an easy decision. What was done in Madrid is incredible, I won everything, my family lives there, but it’s part of the past,” Ronaldo told sports streaming service DAZN.

    Juventus paid 100 million euros ($114.37 million) to sign Ronaldo, who made his Serie A debut in their 3-2 win at Chievo last Sunday.

     

  • Ronaldo targets C/League trophy with Juve

    Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Juventus from triple-consecutive Champions League winners Real Madrid for a figure believed to be at around €110 million – with Ronaldo earning €30 million per year in his four-year stay in Turin.

    Speaking to DAZN about his targets at Juventus, Cristiano Ronaldo said: “I want to win the Champions League with Juve – we will focus on that but without obsession, step after step, and then we’ll see: whether this year, next year or the year after.”

    He then added that “The goal for the club is to win the championship, the Italian Cup and of course do our best in the Champions League.”

    Ronaldo made his debut for Juventus in the 3-2 away victory at Chievo Verona but failed to find the net, most notably injuring Chievo’s experienced goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino. Next up for Juventus and Ronaldo is a home game against Lazio on Saturday evening.

  • Chievo-Juve 2-3 Ft, Ronaldo on the winning side

    Cristiano Ronaldo’s Serie A career begins with the same result that started his La Liga career – a 3-2 win (against Deportivo La Coruna in 2009).

    Although he did score in that game. Juventus win at the Verona’s Bentegodi stadium.but don’t need Cristiano Ronaldo to chip in with a debut goal.

    The Old Lady spent € 112 million to sign CR7 in the summer transfer window and today the Portuguese star starts from the 1st minute with Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa.

    ​Juventus have won five of their last six opening Serie A fixtures (L1), keeping a clean sheet in four of these meetings.Chievo manager Lorenzo D’Anna has won each of his three Serie A games in charge (the final three games of the 2017/18 campaign).

    Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has won 13 of his last 15 top-flight games as a manager against Chievo (D2).

    Juventus’ last seven league goals have come in the second half of games, while 10 of Chievo’s last 11 goals have come in the same period.

    Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo scored in each of his last 10 league appearances for Real Madrid, netting 18 goals in total.

    During his spell at Real Madrid, Cristiano Ronaldo had scored six goals on his league debut of the season, only two of which in the last six seasons on his first La Liga appearance (one in 2014/15 and one in 2016/17).