Manchester United seem to be experiencing something similar with Juventus after Cristiano Ronaldo surprised his teammates by returning to Portugal a few hours before the derby against Manchester City yesterday.

The Portuguese was left out of the Red Devils squad yesterday (Sunday), with Ralf Rangnick claiming the Portuguese star had suffered a minor injury. Striker Katia Aveiro denied this on social media liking an Instagram post claiming Ronaldo was ready for the game.

Cristiano has scored 15 goals in 31 games in all competitions this season, but his contribution to goals contrasts with his behavior on and off the field. This is something that Juventus has already experienced during the striker’s three-year period in Turin.

Ronaldo scored 101 goals in 134 games, but was sometimes accused of showing a bad attitude towards his teammates. In 2019, he was sacked for an away match against Lecce. He remained in Turin, going hunting, while Juventus drew 1-1.

Old Lady fans at the time questioned Ronaldo’s decision to stay home, asking if he could have traveled south to help his team get off the bench at some point in the second half.

Juventus missed Ronaldo’s goals in the first half of the season, but have slowly recovered their unity and DNA. “We reached the final of the Champions League in 2017, because we were a team full of experience, but above all, we were a single unit and it was this competition for places within the group that was very strong. We lost it with Ronaldo,” said Juventus legend Gigi Buffon in December.