Ronaldo Will ‘Suffer A Little’ in Serie A – Cafu

Brazil legend Cafu expects Cristiano Ronaldo to “suffer a little” in Serie A after his league-record move to Juventus this summer.

The former Real Madrid striker struggled to score for his new club early on, going three matches before finally breaking his duck with the Bianconeri when he twice found the net against Sassuolo on Sept. 16.

Ronaldo has been a force ever since, scoring a goal and providing four assists in the following three league matches. However, Cafu reckons the five-time Ballon d’Or winner won’t find life as easy as he did in La Liga or the Premier League.

Asked what the former Manchester United man’s impact would be on Serie A, the two-time World Cup winner, speaking in his role as a Special Olympics ambassador, was blunt.

“He is going to give more visibility to Serie A,” Cafu said. “He will suffer a little in the Serie A because Serie A is a lot more difficult than La Liga in terms of the contrast in teams and in terms of the physical contact.

“But Ronaldo is always Cristiano Ronaldo. [He is the] best player in the world and will give a little more star power to Serie A.”

Cafu spent a majority of his career in Italy when it was Europe’s top league. But the former Roma and AC Milan man admitted the league has seen a dip in form over the years.

“We’ve had a much more competitive Serie A than now. In my adolescence, everyone would like to play in Italy. Roma, Milan, Lazio, Juventus, Sampdoria, Napoli,” he added.

“You had an obsession to play in the Italian Championship. Unfortunately, [now] it is less competitive than the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga. It has to return to the Serie A that we saw before.”