Cristiano Ronaldo is 'fired up' for Juventus' must win Champions League clash with Porto

Published on: 08 March 2021

Andrea Pirlo says Cristiano Ronaldo is 'fired up' and ready to go after being rested ahead of Juventus' Champions League clash with Porto.

Pirlo made the decision to bench the five time Ballon d'Or winner on Saturday, allowing him to play just 21 minutes of football in their 3-1 win over Lazio.

The Juve boss claims the time off has recharged Ronaldo's batteries and that he 'can't wait' to overturn the 2-1 loss they suffered in the first leg.

Pirlo told reporters ahead of Tuesday's last-16 encounter in Turin: 'Cristiano Ronaldo is fine, these are his matches. He's fired up, he's been able to rest and can't wait.'

Pirlo also revealed that Giorgio Chiellini and Matthijs de Ligt should be back in time to face Porto on Tuesday. While Leonardo Bonucci and Arthur - who both came off the bench against Lazio - could even start the game.

Pirlo said: '[Giorgio] Chiellini trained with the group today, he feels good and I think he can be available for tomorrow's game.

'[Matthijs] De Ligt has worked with the group today just in terms of warm-up, then he did an individual training session.

'Arthur is not at 100% but he could start tomorrow, we are hoping that he can last a while.

'[Federico] Bernardeschi is fine and he has the possibilities to play from the start like the others but tomorrow morning I'll decide.

'Morata is improving a lot, he's so ambitious, he looks for different solutions against different teams, he likes to read up on his opponents and this is a very positive aspect for a striker of his high level.

'[Weston] McKennie is doing well enough, he has been carrying this problem with him for a while, we know that and we're trying to manage it better. He can't play for the full 90 minutes, so we are trying to manage him as best as we can.'

Pirlo also stated that his side will not 'hide' from the pressure of the game and says they will not 'underestimate their opponent'.

Juve says his team will use their 'best concentration and energy' to overturn a first-leg deficit and avoid a shock exit at the hands of Porto.

He said: 'We know very well that the pressure is on us, but we don't hide.

'We have what it takes to go through, but we don't underestimate our opponent. Porto are a very good and solid team, but we are Juventus and we have to think about qualifying.

'Tomorrow we can't make any mistakes and will have to manage the 90 minutes with our best concentration and energy.'

Source: m.allfootballapp.com

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