AS Roma boss Eusebio Di Francesco is hoping that Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo is not on the field when his struggling side faces the Italian champions on Sunday. Di Francesco also called Portugal star CR7 the “danger number one”.
Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed Ronaldo will be rested before the end of 2018, but five-time Baloon d’Or will face Roma.
Ronaldo has continued his stellar campaign for Juventus. He has so far scored 12 goals for Juve in all competitions.
While Juventus is table toppers in Serie A, AS Roma is placed at the seventh spot.
“Ronaldo is danger number one. He has got the skills of an out-of-the-league player,” Di Francesco told a news conference. “Maybe he doesn’t determine anything in 35 minutes and then he takes a phenomenal trick out of his hat.”
Di Francesco also said CR7 can change the game whenever he wants.
“He is a player managers struggle to replace because he can decide the game whenever he wants. For this reason, I wish he could not play, of course.”
AS Roma are 22 points behind Juve. So far, Juventus is the only team that is unbeaten in Serie A.
Di Francesco also added that Roma will need to strengthen in January. “It is inevitable we have to do something [in the market], but sincerely I didn’t ask Monchi [AS Roma’s sports director] about the market and he didn’t tell me.”
The Roma boss further said, “We discussed about the things we have to do now to get the most points as possible on the 29th. Then we will evaluate. But we will have to do something in the market for all these injuries. It is inevitable.”