Juventus opened the Series A season Sunday night with a 3-0 victory over Sampdoria. Cristiano Ronaldo had ‘just’ a base place on Andrea Pirlo’s official debut as coach and signed for the final goal shortly before the end of the game. Pirlo says afterwards in conversation with Sky Italia that the Portuguese striker should get some rest next season.

“We’re thinking about how best to use Ronaldo, that’s what’s been talked about. He’s not tired yet, since the season has only just started. But when we get less important games later on, we will try to give him some rest. He is a very intelligent boy, who knows his body very well. That’s why he knows exactly when to take his rest or when to take a step harder. When he plays, will depend on him”, Pirlo says.

It’s no secret that Ronaldo doesn’t like sitting on the spare couch. The 35-year-old striker played ninety official games for Juventus for the time being and only started a game of the Italian superpower three times as a substitute. By the way, Ronaldo formed an attacking duo in the game with Sampdoria, while Pirlo also surprised with base places for Weston McKennie and Gianluca Frabotta.

“Frabotta played a good game. Alex Sandro got injured, so I chose a boy from the Under-23. He trained very well, it was absolutely no risk to set him up”, says Pirlo about 21-year-old Frabotta, who was taken over from Bologna a year ago. “The American (McKennie, ed.) finished the first part of the preparation in Germany, so he was in better shape than others. He made some mistakes in his fit, but it was his first race and we forgive him for that”.

“It will take time to merge all the different modes of play. I don’t want to copy and paste someone’s ideas, I have my own philosophy based on teams that have inspired me,” Pirlo continues. “We didn’t have a lot of time, since the preparation started late and those guys were away with international obligations. We’ve only played one practice game, but this was a good debut and we will continue to work on it”.