'Nobody expected any different from Ronaldo' - Juventus star always 'decisive', says Chiellini

Cristiano Ronaldo has taken in an eventful start to his Juventus career, with Giorgio Chiellini claiming that “nobody expected anything different”.

Having drawn a blank in his first three Serie A outings, the Portuguese superstar opened his goal account with a match-winning brace against Sassuolo.

He then saw red on his Champions League bow against Valencia, before finding the target again in a meeting with Frosinone on Sunday.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner is certainly making an impact with the Bianconeri, but Chillieni says that was always going to be the case.

The Juventus skipper told Sky Sport Italia after seeing the 33-year-old net in a 2-0 victory over Frosinone: “Nobody expected anything different from Cristiano Ronaldo and his goals are the least of our problems.

“He was unlucky with the red card on Wednesday, but will always be decisive for us.

“With the quality that we’ve got, it’s unlikely we’ll fail to score over 90 minutes, so we just have to keep plugging away and wait for the moment.”

Ronaldo finally broke the deadlock for Juve in the 81st minute of their latest outing, with Federico Bernardeschi grabbing a second in stoppage-time.

Chiellini was delighted to see patience rewarded, with Juve’s fearsome attacking options making a telling contribution.

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He added: “I’m not surprised by Bernardeschi’s progress, as he is destined to be increasingly crucial for Juventus.

“I thought Paulo Dybala was fundamental, as he earned a lot of free kicks and gave us some breathing room. If he works with this attitude, he’s better than a year ago.”

While spotting individual progress within the Juventus ranks, Chiellini also believes that this is the strongest Bianconeri squad of the current decade.

He said when quizzed on whether this could be the club’s greatest ever side: “I’ve had the pleasure of playing in defence with Lilian Thuram and [Fabio] Cannavaro.

“I watched the Juventus of Ciro Ferrara and Paolo Montero, even going back to Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea. Football has evolved, you can’t compare with the past.

“What I can say is that we are certainly the strongest we’ve been over the last eight years.”

Juve are looking to make it eight Serie A titles in a row this season, with Massimiliano Allegri’s team continuing to dominate the domestic landscape in Italy.