Cristiano Ronaldo is the headline in the sporting world again. And not for the first time, the problem is his playing time (or to be precise, the lack of it). After falling out with Portugal boss and his former coach in Al Nassr Jorge Jesus, Ronaldo caused a fierce debate all over the world and especially in his homeland about his playing time. His fans think he should play all the time regardless of his displays, while others think that the Portugal team has relieved itself from Ronaldo’s ‘shackles’ and can thrive. Because whenever Ronaldo played (either for a club or a country), he had to be the centre of attention, and he would command to do it all: shoot, take penalties and take free kicks. Who knows how many good players simply didn’t have a chance to score goals from free kicks when Ronaldo was in their team? But sometimes, just sometimes, they found a way to ‘trick’ him and take a shot.##TWITTER_<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="ht" dir="ltr">@TouchlineX Pjanic great freekick goal! Napoli-Juventus (2019) https://t.co/KuwzOuCROy</p>— Upper-Guard (@upperguard) <a href="https://x.com/upperguard/status/2006035890062184822?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 30, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.x.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>##When Ronaldo moved from Real Madrid to Juventus in 2018 for 100 million euros, he was ‘only’ 33 and in perfect shape. Such a transfer meant that he was the undisputed leader, and had to start every match and take all free kicks and penalties. That is why he scored 101 goals in 134 games (a Juventus record) and added 22 assists. But as far as free kicks were concerned, he tried 98 times and scored only once. Coach Massimiliano Allegri was too smart to argue with Ronaldo or appoint another player to take free-kicks, but he found a way to ‘trick’ the Portuguese and allow Miralem Pjanic to take the free kick.##LINKED_NEWS_69493##Pjanic recently recalled this situation and how Allegri moved quickly to ensure that he would shoot the free kick."With Ronaldo it was really difficult to take free-kicks… once he set his mind on it, there was no way around it. You had to get him off the pitch to be able to take one… Allegri had a trick. When he won a free-kick himself, he would immediately send the physios on to the pitch, so Ronaldo was forced to go off and I could take it. I remember it happened in a match against Napoli, I took it and scored, so thanks, Max!" revealed Pjanic.UEFA NATIONS LEAGUE – DIVISION AMonday21.45: (1.55) France (4.20) Belgium (5.90)21.45: (1.45) Italy (4.50) Turkey (7.00)
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