Allegri: "Ronaldo has the strongest mentality I've seen"
Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri heaped praise on superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, comparuing him to LA Galaxy striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been likened to Zlatan Ibrahimovic by Massimiliano Allegri, who hailed the Juventus superstar's relentless hunger. After swapping Real Madrid for Juventus ahead of the 2018-19 campaign, five-time Ballon d'Or winner Ronaldo added the Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana to his growing list of honours this season. Ronaldo won three successive Champions League titles and four during his time in Madrid, where the Portugal international also claimed two LaLiga trophies among other achievements.
Great debut season for Cristiano in Serie A
The 34-year-old has shown no signs of slowing down in Turin, scoring 21 Serie A goals and 28 in all competitions for Juventus as head coach Allegri compared the evergreen veteran to Ibrahimovic – who he worked with at AC Milan.
"In terms of mentality, he is stronger than anyone else. Every day he finds personal objectives to hit and he can find them within himself," said Allegri, who won the 2011 Scudetto with AC Milan before joining Juve in 2014. "A player who has won everything he has at the age of 34 will find it difficult to feel hungry, but he is deadly in that sense. He has this determination that is incredible. We should all learn from Ronaldo, and I too have learned, because it's not everyone who gets to work with the best player in the world.
Cristiano Ronaldo similarities with Ibrahimovic
"For example, on Saturday morning we have a game between ranks in training", Allegri continued, "He has fun, but his fun is winning the game. I explained it to him, and I've written the same about Ibra in the book, his idea of fun is winning, but I told him not everyone is like that and for some there's fun in a back-heel flick, a cheeky move, etc. And then later you bring that into the match situation. I had Ibra at Milan, who every day would get angry about a misplaced pass and I told him that if everyone was as talented as him, there would be no problems. I told him he was the one who had to put himself at the disposal of the others, just as the best and most talented must always do with his peers. It's difficult for the others to climb up to that level, so you must have the humility to not make it difficult for whoever is below you. That's true of life and not just in football, so in that sense Ronaldo is very good."