Cristiano Ronaldo silences critics with sensational hat-trick in Serie A

Expectations were very high when Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by Juventus back in 2018. After the club was booted out of the UEFA Champions League for the third straight season since his arrival, the Portuguese star has been accused of failing to deliver what he has been signed to do...bring the European Cup to Turin.

Juventus only made it as far as the last-16 before Porto eliminated them this season. Criticism has mounted and Marca reports that Alessio Tacchinardi, a former Juentus player, went as far as to say that he expects an apology from Ronaldo.

"He [Cristiano Ronaldo] was rested in last weekend's game against Lazio, so what was he doing against Porto?" he said. "He also has to apologise to the fans."

For his part, Ronaldo did the talking on the pitch by scoring a hat-trick within the opening 32 minutes as Juventus defeated Cagliari 1-3 in the Serie A on Sunday. It was an emphatic way to silence his critics, who have been saying that it had been a mistake for Juventus to sign him in the first place.

Former Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigliwent has been very vocal about slamming Ronaldo. "Was purchasing Cristiano Ronaldo a mistake? Absolutely yes," Cobolli told Radio Punto Nuovo, adding that Ronaldo is too expensive.

To be fair to the critics, not only has Juventus been eliminated from the Champions League, they are likely to lose their Serie A winning streak as well, regardless of Ronaldo's recent hat-trick. They have simply slipped too far behind leaders Inter Milan, who now lead AC Milan by 9 points, with Juventus another point further back in third place. The title race is not over, but it is slipping further away from Juventus.

Nevertheless, Ronaldo proved on Sunday that he is still the world class footballer that arrived in Italy three years ago. He scored the opening header against Cagliari before scoring a penalty to double the lead. He completed his hat-trick just after the half-hour mark and there was little that Cagliari could do to fight back.

Ronaldo has now scored a total of 770 goals, and has overtaken Brazilian legend Pele, who has a total career tally of 767 goals. He is the top scorer in the Serie A so far this season with 23 goals, and is still working hard to fight for the Serie A title as well as the Coppa Italia which will be contested against Atalanta in May.