Can Ronaldo sack Mourinho in Juventus-Man United?

Nikita Fesyukov
04 nov 2018

Juventus will face Manchester United on Wednesday in the Champions in what could be a crucial match for Jose Mourinho and his future at the Old Trafford, with speculations coming up this morning that a defeat against the Bianconeri could be fatal for the Portuguese manager. Can Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo shine for the Italians and sack his former manager?

Ronaldo has been in fantastic form so far this season. After a somewhat slower start in Serie A, he has reached a tally of 7 goals and 5 assists in the Italian top flight but is still waiting for his first goal for his new club in the Champions League.

Could Juventus - Manchester United be the right moment for Ronaldo to shine? Indeed it could. It will be the 33-year-old's first home game in the Champions League in front of his own fans, the fans who applauded him last season when he scored the fantastic scissors-kick goal against Juventus.

Jose Mourinho will definitely hope that Ronaldo will not be at his best on Wednesday, as the Red Devils have already conceded 18 goals in the Premier League this season, which makes the team's defence the worst of the top 14 teams of the league. In contrast, Juventus have the joint-best attack in Serie A with 24 scored goals and Ronaldo had a hand in exactly a half of them.

Thus said, it will be an extremely difficult task for Jose Mourinho in the mid-week fixture and in case of a negative result, the manager could not only face a sack but the club itself would risk greatly in terms of qualification, as Valencia face Young Boys at home on the same day and United travel to Valencia in December for the last round of the group stage. It is now up to the former Real Madrid and Inter manager to come up with the ideal anti-Ronaldo tactic.