TURIN, Italy — Cristiano Ronaldo scored a thumping penalty and created goals for Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain as Juventus hammered 10-man Lecce 4-0 on Friday to stretch their lead over Lazio at the top of Serie A to seven points.
With Lecce's Fabio Lucioni getting a straight red card for a clumsy challenge after 32 minutes, Juve took the lead in the 53rd when Ronaldo fed Dybala, who clipped a superb shot into the top corner.
Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri has rubbished suggestions of a falling out with midfielder Miralem Pjanic and is confident Cristiano Ronaldo will quickly bounce back from his disappointing restart to the season.
Sarri has quickly found himself under pressure after Juventus were beaten on penalties by Napoli in Wednesday's Coppa Italia final.
The only other game they have contested since the three-month stoppage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic was the Coppa semifinal at home to AC Milan five days earlier, which also ended 0-0 after Ronaldo missed a penalty.
Serie A has not even restarted following the coronavirus stoppage, yet pressure is already mounting on Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri following his side's failure to win the Coppa Italia.
Napoli stunned Juventus when they won 4-2 on penalties after a 0-0 draw to claim the Coppa Italia on Wednesday and bring their fiery coach Gennaro Gattuso the first major trophy of his coaching career.
Paulo Dybala and Danilo missed Juve's first two efforts in the shootout while Napoli converted all of their attempts to win the trophy for the sixth time while also ending Juve's hopes of winning the treble this season.
It was the first title to be settled in the Italian season which has just restarted after a three-month hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ante Rebic did his best Nigel de Jong impersonation, sending his cleat into the chest of Danilo immediately following a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty miss. The red card helped Juventus secure a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the Coppa Italia on Friday at Allianz Stadium. The first leg was a 1-1 draw back on Feb. 13 at the San Siro, allowing Juventus to advance on away goals in the first match in Italy in three months.
People love to hate on Cristiano Ronaldo, and according to him it’s because they're jealous of his success.
So, with that confident statement in mind, it’s only fair to ask: Did fame change Ronaldo’s play? Or is he just getting older?
We can probably debunk the getting older argument — Ronaldo crushed his recent Juventus fitness tests.
The Coppa Italia semifinals will be played on June 12-13 while the final will be held on June 17, Italy's Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora confirmed on Thursday.
Juventus and AC Milan, who played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg, will play on June 12. Napoli host Inter Milan a day later at the San Paolo Stadium, leading 1-0 on aggregate.
Serie A said in a statement last week that the Italian season, which has been suspended since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, would resume with the cup competition before the league restarts on June 20.
Italy's top-flight Serie A soccer league has been given the go-ahead to restart on June 20 following the novel coronavirus stoppage, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Thursday. He added that there was a possibility the resumption of the season, which was suspended on March 9, could be preceded by Italian Cup matches one week earlier.
"Italy is starting up again and it's only right that football can also get going," he told reporters after a conference call with representatives from the Italian Football Federation (FIGC).
After weeks of wrangling, with several U-turns on the way, Italy is due to decide on Thursday if and when its top-flight Serie A soccer league can resume after the coronavirus stoppage.
Possibly encouraged by seeing how Germany's Bundesliga has restarted without problems so far, the Italian government appears to have relaxed its position recently.
TURIN — Five-times World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo rejoined Serie A champions Juventus for training on Tuesday after an absence of 72 days that included the last two weeks in quarantine.
The 35-year-old was filmed arriving at the Turin club's Continassa training ground in a black car and was due to undergo a medical before joining coach Maurizio Sarri and his teammates.