In the last few weeks, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini spoke out on Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure from the club.

Leo said that the Juventus players need to find back their pre-Ronaldo spirit, while the captain blamed his late departure for the team’s woeful start to the campaign.

Naturally, the Manchester United star didn’t appreciate the words of his former teammates, and he decided to strike back on the first occasion.

“I know when the team needs my help defensively. But my role in the club is to win, help the team to win and to score goals – it’s part of my job,” Ronaldo told Sky Sports UK as translated by Football Italia.

“The people who don’t want to see that is because they don’t like me but to be honest, I’m 36, I win everything so am I going to be worried about the people who say bad things about me? I sleep good at night. I go to my bed with my conscience very good. Keep going with that because I will still close mouths and win things.

“Criticism is always part of the business. I’m not worried about that. And I see it as a good thing to be honest. If they worry about me or they speak about me, it’s because they know my potential and value in football still. So it’s good. I’ll give you an example: if you’re in a school and you’re the best student, you ask the worst student if he likes the best, they’ll say they don’t like him.”

Juve FC say

While the opinions of the Italia duo obviously stung Ronaldo, their statements were carefully worded, and didn’t include personal attacks nor insults for the striker.

Bonucci didn’t blame Ronaldo for the team’s lack of spirit during his presence in Turin, but the lack of fighting mentality was plain to see.

Chiellini, on the other hand, was arguably right when claiming that CR7’s late departure was behind the terrible results earlier this season. But again, the captain didn’t verbally blame the Portuguese, but the departure itself.

Therefore, Ronaldo talking about shutting mouths and comparing himself to the best student in class is a further proof of his unsuitability to the Juventus cause from a mental perspective.