Coppa Italia: Can the victory convince Cristiano Ronaldo to stay at Juventus?

Cristiano Ronaldo did not score but he did contribute his talents on the pitch during the Coppa Italia final on Wednesday. Juventus won their 14th Coppa Italia title with a 2-1 victory over Atalanta, earning Andrea Pirlo his first major trophy at the helm of the Bianconeri.

Federico Chiesa was on fire that evening, as he made his intentions known early in the game by hitting the post off a Cristiano Ronaldo backheel. He later scored the winning goal after a clinical exchange with Dejan Kulusevski.

Kulusevski was the first Juventus scorer, giving them the first-half lead via an impressive curled strike. Atalanta's Ruslan Malinovskyi later found the equaliser before Chiesa's winner.

It was a very important victory for Juventus, who have had a very disappointing season so far. It may be remembered that they failed to get past the round-of-16 in the UEFA Champions League, giving rise to speculations that Ronaldo may be on his way out.

Apart from the UCL disaster, it is perhaps a bigger issue that the Old Lady has lost the Serie A title for the first time in 10 years. Not only did they fail to extend a 9-year winning streak, they are also in danger of losing out on the top four.

Ronaldo won't be happy to be with a club that is not in the Champions League, but he will surely be delighted to be lifting a trophy once again. On top of that, the victory is special given that the final was played in front of 4,300 fans at Sassuolo's Mapei Stadium.

Playing in front of thousands of adoring fans is something that all footballers have been missing since the start of the novel coronavirus pandemic early last year. The Coppa Italia final is only the first step towards a return to normalcy, and it remains to be seen if the positive developments might convince Ronaldo to stay in Turin where he has a contract until the end of next season.

Meanwhile, Pirlo's fate also hangs in the balance, but the silverware may help his case as he fights against the sack this summer.