Portugal head coach Fernando Santos defended Cristiano Ronaldo after he no showed at the UEFA awards hailing his sportsmanship for privately congratulating Luka Modric.
Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic tried to qualify comments about Ronaldo not attending the UEFA awards ceremony insisting his comments were lost in translation.
Juventus forward Paulo Dybala says things are going “brilliantly” with Cristiano Ronaldo, even if neither have scored a goal yet this season.
Ronaldo has played all three of the Bianconeri’s Serie A fixtures — against Chievo, Lazio and Parma — while Dybala played the full 90 minutes on the opening day of the season but came on for just 10 against Parma last time out.
The Argentine is not concerned by the lack of goals, however, as he expects their understanding to grow with time.
“It’s going brilliantly,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport . “We just need to keep training together. We’ve got the whole season ahead of us.
“[When I heard Ronaldo was joining] I said to myself: ‘After having had the fortune of playing with [Lionel] Messi in the national team, now I have the opportunity to play with Ronaldo at Juve.’ It’s amazing.”
Dybala nevertheless admits he would like to be getting more regular game time, having also been left out of Argentina’s matches against Guatemala and Colombia over the international break — where he was forced to deny reports of a rift with interim coach Lionel Scaloni.
“Of course I want to get back to be playing again,” he said. “I’ll get back home today and want to be ready for Sunday. And on Wednesday we have the Champions League against Valencia, which is a competition that gives me many emotions.
“I admit, I’ve not started the year like last year or even in 2016. One thing is certain, though, I want to get back to Turin and work well to regain my place at Juve.”
According to Maurizio Zamparini, the president of Dybala’s former club Palermo, the 24-year-old has already made up his mind to leave Turin in January, due to his lack of opportunities. He says Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri would only have himself to blame if Dybala were to move on.
“Each time I see him dropped, I cry,” Zamparini told RMC Sport. “When he stays on the bench, it’s down to that phenomenon, Allegri. Allegri should come to Palermo and try to win the Scudetto with us because it’s easy to be a phenomenon at Juventus.
“I sent a message to Dybala two years ago, advising him to go to Spain, where they play football, and not stay in Italy. He’ll go because Juventus want to earn €100-120 million and I think he’ll leave in January.
“He’s got offers from Spain and England. Juventus have plenty of champions and obviously it’s hard for them all to play. Certainly it’s regrettable to see a phenomenon like him not playing.”
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