Cristiano Ronaldo 'not easy to manage', says former Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri

New Lazio coach worked with the Portuguese forward for one season in Turin

Maurizio Sarri and Cristiano Ronaldo won the Scudetto during their one season together at Juventus. AFP

Lazio manager Maurizio Sarri has said Cristiano Ronaldo was "not easy to manage" during his time at Juventus due to the Portuguese forward's "personal interests".

Sarri, who was appointed Lazio manager last month, was sacked by Juventus in August 2020 after just one season in charge. The 62-year-old Italian led Juve to the Serie A title and final of Coppa Italia but was dismissed after the Uefa Champions League Round of 16 exit to Lyon.

In his solitary season working with Sarri, Ronaldo scored 31 goals in 33 Serie A games and 37 in 46 matches across all competitions.

“Ronaldo is not easy to manage, he is a multinational company with personal interests that must be combined with those of the team. I consider myself to be better at being a coach than a manager,” Sarri told Sport Italia.

“There are also a lot of positive aspects, because Ronaldo will bring results home in the end, and they are important results.

“He represents something that goes beyond the club, with more than 200 million followers on social media, but this is a problem in our society. Unfortunately, there is too much talk about players and little about teams.”

Sarri also suggested that his work at Juventus was unappreciated, particularly in light of a disappointing 2020-21 campaign under Andrea Pirlo, in which the Turin giants scraped into the Champions League places on the final day of the season.

“We won the Scudetto without even celebrating it, everyone just went to dinner on their own,” Sarri said.

“The league title was taken for granted, inside and outside the club. But this year I saw them celebrating finishing fourth, so maybe those were the ideal conditions for going to Juve.”