Rome (AFP)
Nobody imagines Juventus without the Champions League, let alone Cristiano Ronaldo and his extraordinary salary in the Europa League.
The Bianconeri and their star have only 90 minutes left on Sunday evening to try to escape the industrial accident.
"Fino alla fine" ("Until the end"): rarely the motto of Juventus, with which Cristiano Ronaldo concludes all his posts on Instagram, has been so topical.
To land a ticket in extremis in C1, Juventus must win in Bologna (11th) on Sunday on the last day of Serie A. Any other result would be synonymous with 5th place and therefore the next season without the Champions League, a first since 2012 .
But that will not be enough: Ronaldo, Chiellini and co must also hope for a misstep from Milan (3rd) or Naples (4th), against the formidable Atalanta (2nd) for the Rossoneri, or against Hellas Verona for the "Partenopei" .
Beyond sporting forfeiture, after nine consecutive league titles, missing the Champions League meeting would seriously challenge the economic model of the "Old Lady".
For a club like Juventus, launched in a global expansion since 2010 by Andrea Agnelli, the income of the C1 (80 million euros per season on average) is a basic data to establish the budget.
This loss would only be modestly compensated by the Europa League.
- Luxury cars -
The first question would be the huge salary of Cristiano Ronaldo: 31 million euros net per season, which weighs about 60 million euros on the club's finances.
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An unimaginable salary without the C1.
Because CR7 was recruited in 2018 first for this: to help Juve to take the leap in C1, after the lost finals of 2015 and 2017. A competition in which he is the historic top scorer (134) and the second most counting player. number of matches (176), one length behind record holder Iker Casillas (177).
The hypothesis of a departure would therefore become hot again from Sunday evening if Juve misses the march.
The move of some of his luxury cars has already fueled new rumors at the beginning of the week, even if the Italian press recalled that this kind of movement in front of the star's garage was not uncommon before the holidays.
It will still be necessary to find a club capable of matching the salary of the 36-year-old player.
A return to Real Madrid (2009-18) has been mentioned but President Florentino Perez does not seem very keen on the idea of reopening the door of the "White House" to the star who left three years ago.
- "Planetary figure" -
The track leading to Paris SG has cooled since the extension until 2025 of the star house Neymar.
His other ex-club, Manchester United (2003-09), is also regularly cited as a possible destination.
Cristiano Ronaldo's mother has shared her dream of seeing her son return to his home club Sporting Portugal, but it seems premature for the star, who has never given up joining Lionel Messi and his six Balloons. Golden.
CR7, on the other hand, benefits in Italy from tailor-made tax conditions that it will probably not find elsewhere, recalled recently the Gazzetta dello Sport by making the bet that the Portuguese, under contract until 2022, would not leave Turin.
"I still see him in the bianconero jersey and focused," club coach Andrea Pirlo assured Saturday.
"He proved it again the other day by sacrificing himself to win the Italian Cup."
"He is focused for tomorrow (Sunday), then we will have time to discuss the rest," he added.
The leaders of Juve, them, also assure for months that Ronaldo will not leave, recalling the importance of the player, not only on the ground (he has just passed the 100 goals with Juve), but also in the strategy. global business.
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"Ronaldo is a separate speech, which applies to a few sportsmen, planetary characters, who are beyond a logic of sport", underlined in April the sports director Fabio Paratici.
A player who, before thinking about what to do next, still has a challenge to take up on Sunday: to become the first player to finish top scorer in three major leagues (England, Spain, Italy).
Even if, once is not customary, it is the classification of his team that he will look first.
© 2021 AFP