The Euro Preview: Ronaldo’s quest for his first Juventus goal

Cristiano Ronaldo remains on a quest to score his first league goal for Juventus, while the Bundesliga gets underway with Bayern favorites again to win it.

Serie A

Juventus, 3-2 winners against Chievo Verona last weekend in the season opener, play their first home match of the league season on Saturday against Lazio at the Allianz Stadium. Cristiano Ronaldo will make his Juve home debut, looking to score his first official Serie A goal after coming up short against Chievo in that dramatic last-gasp win. 

While defending may be a bigger priority in Serie A compared to La Liga, the Italian sports dailies reminded the Portuguese star of just that in the following day’s editions. La Gazzetta dello Sport, one of the country’s three major sports newspapers, wrote in a headline: “Cristiano, welcome to Italy, enthusiastic debut, never simple matches, decisions of referees argued.”

Ronaldo has scored at a blistering pace while at Real Madrid over the past four seasons. For example, he scored 26 goals in 27 La Liga matches last year, dominating the scoring charts for the second half of the season following a slow start. Ronaldo also scored 15 goals in 13 matches in European competition as Real went on to capture a third consecutive Champions League.

In a news conference earlier this summer, Ronaldo told reporters he was  “not worried” about never having played in Italy and that he “can adapt quickly” to Serie A. How quickly remains to be seen.

Also Saturday, Napoli, who defeated Lazio 2-1 in its first game of the season, play at home against AC Milan. Napoli manager Carlo Ancelotti will face the club he spent the bulk of his playing career with during the successful years of the late 1980s and early ‘90s.   

Other matches to keep an eye on: Inter Milan host Torino at the San Siro Stadium on Sunday, while Roma host Atalanta on Monday at the Olympic Stadium.

La Liga

Let’s start off with title favorites Barcelona and Real Madrid. Both teams won last week’s first match of the season and will look to make it two in a row.

Barca, the defending league champions, won at home 3-0 against Alaves. They play on the road Saturday against Real Valladolid. Lionel Messi, in great form after this summer’s disappointing World Cup with Argentina, will look to score in his 16th straight league game after recording two goals against Alaves. 

Messi did better than Ronaldo last season in league play, scoring 34 times in 36 games. Despite Ronaldo’s departure from Real, the comparisons between the two will continue. 

Real Madrid, 2-0 winners last week against Getafe, are also in the road on Sunday against Girona. In other key matches: Atletico Madrid, another contender for the league title, host Rayo Vallecano this Saturday, while Valencia travel to Barcelona to take on Espanyol the following day. 

Bundesliga

The German top flight kicks off Friday when league champions Bayern Munich, winners of the last six titles, host Hoffenheim, who finished third last season. Title contender Borussia Dortmund, meanwhile, opens the season at home Sunday against RB Leipzig.   

Bayern, under new manager Niko Kovac, has had a complete lock on the Bundesliga. As a result, the league will need several clubs, including Dortmund and Schalke 04, to step up their game this season in order to make the title race competitive. 

Dortmund, one of the teams expected to contend for the crown, were largely a disappointment last season. As a result, Bayern won the league with five matchdays to spare.

How long will this dominance last? Bayern’s easy go at it triggered calls for reforming the league calendar, something that will happen again should BVB (and any other potential contender) make it a closer race this season.