Pjanic: Allegri had a trick to keep Ronaldo away from free-kicks

Former Juventus midfielder Miralem Pjanic has opened up about the 2017 Champions League final in Cardiff, where Juventus suffered a 4-1 defeat against Real Madrid. He admits that the scoreline did not reflect the match, and memories of his shot being saved by Keylor Navas still haunt him.

Pjanic also shared his perspective on the long-standing debate between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. While he praised Ronaldo's mental strength and obsession with goals, he named Messi as the superior player, describing his class as a "gift from God" that made the difficult look simple.

With Ronaldo, it was really difficult to take free-kicks. Once he set his mind on it, there was no way around it. You had to get him off the pitch to be able to take one. Allegri had a trick. When we won a free-kick, he would immediately send the physios on to the pitch, so Ronaldo was forced to go off and I could take it. I remember it happened against Napoli, I took it and scored, so thanks, Max! Miralem Pjanic

Reflecting on his tenure in Turin, Pjanic noted that despite the loss in Cardiff, the squad grew significantly stronger two years later. He believes that the team he was part of in that later period possessed enough depth to field two separate lineups capable of winning the Serie A title.