Juventus coach Allegri backs goal-shy Ronaldo

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Turin,   Juventus head coach Massimiliano Allegri said star forward Cristiano Ronaldo will break his scoring duck soon and that it takes time to adjust to Italian football.

Ronaldo is yet to find the back of the net for his new club after arriving this summer from Real Madrid.

Juventus beat Parma 2-1 on Saturday night, with goals from Mario Mandzukic and Blaise Matuidi.

“Italian football presents different problems and it takes time,” he was quoted as saying by ESPNFC.

“He’s not getting the rub of the green at the moment either — the ball is not bouncing right for him or he’s shooting just off target. “We’ll all be fresher after the (international) break and that’s when the real season starts.”

Allegri stressed that the Italian Serie A has its own challenges. “Serie A is a league where the teams defend carefully,” he added. “I don’t want to say that it’s better than other leagues in Europe or not. Let’s just say that the teams are very strong in defence and the coaches are very good.

“They study every match to try not to concede space to the other teams. Everyone puts Serie A down but it’s very difficult for a player to score 40 goals a season. (Gonzalo) Higuain did it once, but was an extraordinary feat.

“Usually the top scorer in Italy scores 26 or 27 goals. And usually the top scorer in Italy never wins the title. So maybe it’s better for us.”