Del Piero : In Champions League Triumphs, Ronaldo is more influentialthan coaches.

Alessandro Del Piero said Cristiano Dos Santos Alveiro Ronaldo deserves accolades more than his former coach, Zinedine Zidane, for his immense contributions to Madrid’s historic Champions League triumphs for three consecutive times and suggested Juventus as a potential winner of this edition.



The former Italy international, Del Piero, appreciates the technical skills of Zinedine Zidane on their achievements but said Ronaldo is central to the club’s success.

“If the players deserved more appreciation for their efforts in winning titles than the coaches, Zidane is not as instrumental as the new Juventus forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, not disputing the exceptional job Zidane did.”

“Ronaldo is an undisputed champion with a strong mental strength that only the greatest athletes have.

"Piero was among the players of Juventus that won the Champions League in 1996 and advised other clubs to consider them as one of the favourite to lift this edition.”

Real Madrid are the first favourite, factually, because they won it in three successions even if Ronaldo left, "he said.

“Second favourites are; Juventus, Manchester City and PSG and Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool are on third row.”

“I want to see the four clubs from Serie A make it to round of 16, which I’m so positive about it. But to be sincere, if three sail through and fourth relegated to Europa League, I’ll be delighted with Napoli in the most difficult group.

He encouraged Carlo Ancelotti to restore Napoli’s lost glory in Europe.

"Ancelotti is one of the elites Europe” he continued “Carlo possesses unreal mentality and knowledge, but it is gonna be biased to pin the blame on Maurizio Sarri for their lackluster performance in the League and Europe.”

"It is always a cycle and currently, the future of the club is in Carlo’s hands to manage the development in order to get the best he could out of his players to make sure there are a bit of energy for the decisive moments in the Champions League."

“Roma can be a hard nut to crack after their campaign was ended by Liverpool in last edition of the most glamorous league in the world.” stating that "they possess necessary mentality abilities to become the Liverpool of Italian football."

Juventus will make a trip to Valencia in their first game of this season’s Champions League, Inter Milan will lock horns with Tottenham Hotspur in San Siro, the defending champions, Real Madrid will be entertaining Roma at Santiago Bernabeu and Napoli play away to Red star Belgrade.