Milan: After finally getting off the mark for Juventus in Serie A, Cristiano Ronaldo has his sights set on his favourite competition: the Champions League.
Ronaldo was under pressure after three games without scoring for Juventus since his move from Real Madrid, but he broke his mini-drought with two goals in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Sassuolo.
Next up for Juventus and Ronaldo is a trip to Valencia Wednesday as the Champions League kicks off this week.
“I feel like that’s my home. It’s the competition that I love the most,” Ronaldo said after the game Sunday. “Let’s hope we have some luck, it will be a difficult group but I can’t wait.”
Juventus have won the Serie A title for the last seven seasons — and the league and Italian Cup double for the past four — but have struggled to transfer that domestic supremacy to the European stage.
Juventus haven’t won Europe’s premier club competition since 1996, although they has reached the final twice in the past four editions. Splashing out a Serie A record 112 million euros (then USD131.5 million) for Ronaldo, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, Juve have sent out a message of their its intent to go one step further this time around.
Ronaldo certainly revels in the Champions League. Not only has he won the trophy four times in the past five seasons, but he is also the competition’s leading scorer with 120 goals. And he appears to be getting into his stride at Juventus at just the right time.
Valencia know what a scoring threat Ronaldo can be: he scored 15 goals in 18 appearances against them for Real Madrid.
Also in Group H are Swiss team Young Boys and Manchester United — the club with who Ronaldo won his first Champions League title in 2008.