‘Don’t do Instagram & don’t do any TikTok’ – Cristiano Ronaldo’s demands in Juventus training revealed that highlight elite mentality

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner made his way to Turin in 2018 when bringing a record-breaking spell at Real Madrid to a close. He would go on to land two Serie A titles with the Bianconeri, while also helping them to Coppa Italia glory in 2021.

Ronaldo has always demanded the best of himself and those around him, with that mindset on full display across three years with Juve. He made it clear to younger colleagues, including Euro 2020 winner Federico Chiesa, that there should be no distractions when working on your game.

Former team-mate Sami Khedira, who played alongside Ronaldo at Real and Juve, has told FIVE of what makes the all-time great special: “Cristiano, when he came to Juventus, of course he had his ego. Federico Chiesa was like a fantastic young player. He had his phone in his hand and was walking into the gym - Cristiano looked at him like 'what are you doing and where are you going?'. Going to the gym with your phone - listen you don't need your phone, go in the gym and work. Don't do Instagram and don't do any TikTok. Focus on your work. The young players were like, wow. But even the quality of training when he came to Juventus, it was like a different level. Every single shot on target was like I needed to score. Let's not play about money but play about a bottle of wine or a dinner. He was a competitive guy but also really friendly, nice and humble, in my point of view.”

Ronaldo hit 101 goals for Juventus through 134 appearances and continues to maintain remarkable individual standards while breaking more records in 2024. He is now 39 years of age, but found the target on 50 occasions for Al-Nassr last season and is now on European Championship duty with Portugal – at his 11th major international tournament.