Ronaldo Banned From Taking Free Kicks

Despite only scoring two free-kicks in La Liga in his final three years in Spain, Ronaldo has insisted on taking free-kicks for his new club. The former Real Madrid man has a woeful record when it comes to finding the net with a dead ball.

But that hasn’t stopped the Portuguese from demanding to take them at the Old Lady. However, Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has disclosed that Ronaldo will now only take long-range efforts, while Miralem Pjanic and Paulo Dybala will be in charge of taking free-kicks closer to goal.

Speaking on Friday, he said: “Ronaldo is a smart guy, he knows Pjanic and Dybala are excellent free-kick takers and they are going to take those close to the area. When there are free kicks from far away, Ronaldo can kick them but we’ve decided that Dybala and Pjanic will take the set pieces close to the area.”

The news will come as a massive relief to Dybala, who recently joked that Ronaldo had disturbed the usual order at the club.

Speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport after the Ronaldo joined the club in the summer, the Argentine said: “Last year, Mire and I had a pact: if it was towards the left side, he would take it, whereas on the right it would be me. When Ronaldo arrived, I wrote to Pjanic in our chatroom: ‘Sorry Mire, but I think you won’t be taking many free kicks this year’.”