Ronaldo sparks UCL dreams ahead of Juve unveiling

ROME: Juventus fans gave Cristiano Ronaldo a rousing welcome on Monday as the club prepared to unveil the superstar summer signing they hope will bring the Champions League trophy back to Turin.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside the Allianz Stadium in Turin from early morning singing “Ronaldo, bring us the Champions (League)” as the European competition’s most lethal striker of all time made a brief appearance ahead of his medical Monday.

The 33-year-old emerged from the club’s medical centre to sign autographs and shake hands amid raucous chants of his name before shooting back inside for further tests.The five-times Ballon d’Or winner was set to be officially unveiled to the world’s media at a press conference in which he was to sign a four-year deal that will earn him a reported 30 million euros a season.

Ronaldo fever hit Turin after the announcement last week of his 100 million-euro ($117 million) transfer from European champions Real Madrid, which Italian media reports will cost Juve a total of 350 million euros.

Many of the youngsters who came out to greet their new hero were wearing Juventus shirts emblazoned with “Ronaldo” and the number 7, which have been selling like hot cakes in the city.

Others wore t-shirts with the message “Bem-vindo” — “welcome” in Portuguese — which 5,000 shopkeepers put up on posters around the north-western Italian city ahead of Ronaldo’s arrival late Sunday.

Juventus fans are hoping that Ronaldo’s arrival will push them onto Europe’s top table. Fresh from their seventh Serie A title in as many years and four straight domestic doubles, the Old Lady of Italian football have struggled to turn domestic dominance into European success as they strive for the continent’s holy grail.

“Our hope is to win the Champions League that for now is the only objective that we’ve not been able to conquer,” says Francesco, 38, from the Tuscan city of Pisa.

Ronaldo has scored 120 Champions League goals, more than anyone else in the history of the competition, and won four out of the last five editions with Real Madrid.Juve haven’t won the competition since 1996 but reached the final in 2015 and 2017.