Ronaldo: 'Juve back at the top'

Ronaldo visited the Juventus Museum today and praised Antonio Conte’s side, while joking he has “removed from my memory” the infamous Mark Iuliano challenge.

The former Inter striker is in Turin for tomorrow’s presentation of the Confederations Cup, as he is part of the organising committee for that and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

He met with Conte and the players at the Vinovo training ground, then toured the Juventus Stadium and the J-Museum.

One of the strongest images of Ronaldo’s Inter career was that of him clattering into Iuliano during a Scudetto showdown in 1998, a denied penalty which to this day angers the Nerazzurri.

“I often get provoked in Turin when they ask me to admit I knocked Iuliano over,” smiled Ronaldo to Tuttosport.

“I can say that I removed that from my memory, especially as a few months later at the Stade de France...” he added of Brazil’s World Cup Final defeat.

“Juventus are back to the top, have virtually won their second consecutive Scudetto and went further than any other Italian club in the Champions League this season.

“Building their own stadium was a real turning point. Just think that Real Madrid have €15m per year revenue just from tours of the Santiago Bernabeu.”

Il Fenomeno retired some time ago, but he still has memories of confronting Gigi Buffon.

“At the end of my career I looked back over some recordings and noticed when I kept the ball low, Buffon tended to save the shots, while I usually scored when raising the finish. I wish I’d noticed that when I was still playing...”