(August 18, 2018) – Chievo Verona made Juventus feel uncomfortable in the Serie A kickoff on Saturday despite the Italian Champions won 3-2 with a stoppage-time goal. In the end, the Christiano Ronaldo debut for Juventus was a dream.
Chievo 2-3 Juventus: Ronaldo debut in the Serie A dream
Cristiano Ronaldo had a sweet Serie A debut even though he did not score. However, the five-time Ballon d’Or winner helped his team all game long.
The Italian giants struggled to beat a relegate candidate team but eventually, they earned their first three points of the season.
Bittersweet first half
Sami Khedira’s opener in just three minutes gave Juventus total control of the game.
However, Juventus had all the opportunities to close out the game in the first half but were unlucky, and suddenly Chievo’s Mariusz Stępiński tied the game with a header in the 38th minute in his side’s first shot on target.
Strong second half
Emanuele Giaccherini scored a penalty in the 55th to put Chievo 2-1 ahead against the super favorites Juventus. Leonardo Bonucci came back to Juve with a goal in the 75th minute to even the match after a cornet. He played last season with AC Milan.
It seems Juventus would have another chance to win, and Federico Bernardeshi confirmed so with a goal in the stoppage time to give Juventus the 3-2 lead.
Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa haven’t had a good performance, that’s why Mario Mandzukic entered in the second half, and the Croatian almost become the game changer in the 86th after a header that crossed the goal line but a Ronaldo’s foul on Chievo’s goalkeeper Stefano Sorrentino annulated the score.
Ronaldo Performance
The Portuguese tried to reach the net intensively but the victory was all he wanted.
Moments later after Khedira’s opener Ronaldo had a right-footed shot that went close to the goal line and a left-footed shot that passed above the crossbar.
In the second half, Ronaldo also had a header in the 60th, a shot from outside the box in the 65th and a free kick in the 77th all saved by Sorrentino.
