Ronaldo is “1,000 percent certain” to stay at Juventus

Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo in action. Photo: Reuters

TURIN: Cristiano Ronaldo is “1,000 percent” certain to remain at Juventus, he said after they clinched the Serie A title on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Fiorentina.

Ronaldo, dismissing suggestions that he could cut short his three-year contract, said he was delighted to have won Serie A at the first attempt, adding to his three English Premier League titles with Manchester United and two La Liga crowns with Real Madrid.

“I’m really happy to have won the Italian title in my first season here. It has been a great season for this Juventus, we also won the Italian Supercup,” said the Portuguese forward, who has scored 19 league goals.

“We didn’t do so well in the Champions League but there is always next year,” he added. “I will stay, 1,000 percent.”

Defender Leonardo Bonucci, meanwhile, explained how Juventus had managed to bounce back from their shock Champions League quarter-final exit against Ajax on Tuesday when they lost 2-1 at home and went out 3-2 on aggregate.

“I’m sorry about the Champions but we transformed the disappointment into anger and energy. This scudetto, the eighth in a row, is something unique,” he said. “We really want to celebrate, this success makes the season’s sacrifice all worth it.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri said winning with five games to spare was a “testimony to our great season”.

“We put aside the elimination that brought us disappointment and bitterness. Fortunately, we had this match that allowed us to close the championship,” said the 51-year-old who has been in charge for the last five campaigns.

Allegri said his team, who fell behind after six minutes, needed to deal better with setbacks.

“We came from Tuesday’s disappointment, then entered the field and conceded a goal,” he said. “We have to work on dealing with the unexpected, on Tuesday we suffered four devastating counter-attacks, today we did the same after we conceded the goal.”

He said injuries had prevented Juventus from producing better performances.

“In general, during the season, we were unable to find continuity,” he said. “There were constant new injuries and recurring fitness problems, so at times I had only 14 players to train with. Despite it all, we won by a big advantage.”