Pirlo and Ronaldo will not leave Juventus

Pavel Nedved, vice president of Juventus champions Italy, said on Wednesday that coach Andrea Pirlo and striker Cristiano Ronaldo will not leave the club despite a disappointing season.

Pirlo took over from Juventus as a surprise to coach Maurizio Sarri last August, despite his lack of previous coaching experience.

The 41-year-old, who won the World Cup, two Champions League and six Serie A titles before retiring in 2017, was criticized recently after Juventus' hopes of winning their tenth successive league title dwindled.

Juventus were knocked out of the Champions League last-16 by Porto on March 9 before they suffered a surprise defeat by struggling Benevento on Sunday, 10 points behind league leaders Inter Milan.

"Pirlo will remain coach of Juventus. I'm 100 percent sure of that," said Nedved.

"We are committed to our project with Andrea and we know that we will face difficulties. We wanted to provide better results than that, but we were expected to face difficulties."

"We will be calm because we are on the right track according to the plan. Pirlo has all the ingredients to be a great coach."

Ronaldo was also criticized after Juventus were left European and there was speculation about his possible departure at the end of the season.

"For me, Cristiano is an untouchable player. He has a contract until June 30, 2022 and he will remain in the team. We will see what happens next," said Nedved.

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