Cristiano Ronaldo did a Granit Xhaka on Sunday night and now Juventus have to straighten him out.
The Portuguese superstar was substituted for the second match in a row by coach Maurizio Sarri.
This time, with the clash against AC Milan poised at 0-0, Sarri hauled off CR7 in the 55th minute.
Walking off, jeered by the fans, he told Sarri to “go away” and called him a “son of a whore”, before leaving the stadium before full time.
Sarri carried on smoking his skyf, gave substitute Paulo Dybala his final instructions and watched as his super sub scored the winner.
The victory took Juve back to the top of Serie A, one point ahead of Inter.
Sarri will feel vindicated by his decision and said afterward that Ronaldo was “out of shape”.
FRUSTRATIONS: Arsenal captain Granit Xhaka. Picture: David Klien/Reuters.
Knowing Ronaldo, he probably checked himself out in the mirror just to be sure he was as chiseled as ever.
Too bad that the coach is unimpressed with his five league goals and just one Champions League goal in 17 matches this season.
Yes, those are his stats and Juventus are worried about their five-time world footballer of the year.
Word is that his teammates want a piece of him too, a dressing-room apology for not sticking around.
Juve bosses, meanwhile, want a sit-down with CR7.
Not only was the former Real Madrid man being disrespectful to the coach, his teammates, the fans and the club, he is not doing what they pay him to do.
SUPER SUB: Paulo Dybala celebrates scoring. Picture: Massimo Pinca/Reuters.
At 34 years old, they aren’t expecting him to carry the team. They are expecting him to score at better than a goal every third game.
At his age, gearing your whole setup for Ronaldo is risky and Sarri knows he has to make sure his team has more than one attacking option.
I mean, there are so many attacking talents at Juve - Dybala is a gem, while Aaron Ramsey, Gonzalo Higuain, Douglas Costa and Mario Mandzukic are all threats.
And, of course, Ronaldo is still the leading goalscorer with his six goals this term.
At the moment, Ronaldo is not adding to the team. He is stifling the team play, taking the focus off the other options without opening up play for them.
DIE DING IS GEROOK: Juventus mentor Sarri. Picture: Alessandro Di Marco/AP.
He was criticised for his inability to go past defenders by former Milan and Juve boss Fabio Capello. And the Old Lady’s current bosses will probably lay into him harder.
It’s tough to criticise Ronaldo with all he’s achieved, but Juve realise that he is not at his best.
They need to make him realise that if he doesn’t improve, he’s like Faceman without the A-Team.