Here’s Why Cristiano Ronaldo Did Not Play In Juventus' 2-0 Win Over Brescia

Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri has explained why Cristiano Ronaldo did not play in their Serie A fixture against Brescia on Sunday.

Ronaldo, who has been in an excellent form for Juventus this season, scoring 22 goals across all competitions and chipping in further with two assists as well, was reportedly rested for the match, which Juventus won 2-0.

Considering the 35-year-old soccer star entering the twilight years of his career and Juventus have quite a few crucial matches coming up, Sarri chose to rest Ronaldo. The "Old Lady" has four matches in the next 11 days and there is no way Sarri can afford to lose Ronaldo due to an injury.

Juventus face SPAL on Feb. 22 before facing off against Lyon in the UEFA Champions League four days later. On March 1, Juventus have their big Serie A showdown with title rivals Inter Milan and two days later, they will face the other Milan – AC Milan – in the second leg of their Coppa Italia semi-final tie.

Juve boss Sarri has made it clear that Ronaldo cannot play every single match in a season and they need to come with a backup plan for the same.

“It is difficult; we have many strong players and some are out. They are all atypical players, without a specific role. We have many situations to fix. Ronaldo is a center-forward who starts off-center. He cannot play 75 games there a year between the national team and the club. We decided to let him recover and henced rested him, so we came up with this system for this game."

"At this moment, we are playing more with a trident than a trequartista. That’s because Ramsey has made it clear he prefers to play in midfield rather than as a trequartista. Dybala prefers to be more advanced."

"I thought Ramsey was improving over the last couple of games, he’s much better in the movements and doing well in defense too. It’s clear throughout history that English players struggle to settle into Italian football, as we are far more tactical and not quite as free as they are in the Premier League, but I believe he’s over the hump and on his way towards making a real difference,” Sarri told reporters in a post-match interview after Juve’s win at home Sunday.

With 57 points, Juventus currently are on the top of the Serie A table but they are only one point clear of Lazio and three points ahead of third-placed Inter Milan.