Pirlo: "I hope Cristiano scores one or two goals every game"

Andrea Pirlo praised Cristiano Ronaldo's start to the season and hopes the Juventus forward's fine run of form can continue. The Portuguese star has scored three goals and provided an assist in two Serie A games at the start of the 2020-21 campaign.

Cristiano brings enthusiasm - Pirlo

Ahead of Sunday's scheduled clash against Napoli, Pirlo hailed the star – and hopes more goals are to come. "Ronaldo works very hard. He is the first to come to training and the last to go home," he told a news conference. "He brings enthusiasm, you can notice it on the pitch as well. He started the season really well, I hope he will keep doing like this until the end of the season.I hope he scores one or two goals every game. He is really important for us. In Rome we were a man down and he helped a lot until the end of the game. He is an example for everyone."

Ronaldo and Juventus were drawn to face Lionel Messi's Barcelona, Dynamo Kiev and Ferencvaros in Group G of the Champions League. Pirlo is ready for the challenge, but pointed to getting a trip to Kiev on 20 October as an important aspect for Juve as they target a first Champions League title since 1996.

"We are in a very good group. It's always great to face Barcelona because it brings more responsibilities and attention to our players," he said. "We know we'll play lot of games, but I think it is good that we'll play the first game in Kiev. In October it's less cold than December there, maybe we'll not play in the snow then."