Juventus boss, Andrea Pirlo, has said that there is no clause in Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract stopping him (Pirlo) from subbing off the Portuguese during matches.
Pirlo said this defending his decision to substitute Ronaldo in Tuesday’s Coppa Italia win over Inter, despite the Portugal captain being unhappy about being taken off the pitch.
The former Real Madrid star netted a brace in the first half of the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg, striking back after Lautaro Martinez had opened the scoring for Inter in the ninth minute.
Asked for his reason to take Ronaldo off in the 77th minute Pirlo said that he felt the need to rest his team’s star, who turns 36 on Friday.
“It’s normal that when you go out in a match like this you want to play to help the team,” Pirlo told Rai Sport.
“There is no contract clause that says he can’t be subbed off. He knows he is a fundamental player for us but to get his breath back, he must always be at the top.
“He proved it with his performances after some criticism. He couldn’t have done better than that.
“I said [to him] that he had to rest, we have an important match on Saturday. He has played many consecutive games; every now and then a little rest is good for him.”
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