Maurizio Sarri Reveals Reason for Cristiano Ronaldo's Absence Against K-League All Stars

Maurizio Sarri has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo was suffering from fatigue heading into Friday's 3-3 draw with the K-League All Stars, so it was decided that he would not feature during the match.

A second-string Juventus side, which still featured the likes of Matthijs de Ligt, Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic, fell 3-1 behind, only to claw back to a 3-3 draw thanks to two late goals.

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Speaking after the game (via La Gazzetta dello Sport), Sarri confessed that the plan was for Ronaldo to feature, but he was ultimately left out to help him recover.

He said: "This evening we gave a chance to young players, who were ready. Ronaldo? He was expected to feature briefly, but today I talked to him and he was very tired, so we decided to keep him at rest. We played in a beautiful stadium, with a large crowd and a perfect turf.

"Now, for 10 days we can train without matches and we can continue to prepare for the upcoming season."

The hope is that Ronaldo will be able to feature in the side's next pre-season friendly against Atletico Madrid on August 10. His last meeting with Los Rojiblancos saw Ronaldo net a memorable hat-trick in last season's Champions League round of 16, and Sarri will be eager for a similar impact as their International Champions Cup campaign comes to an end.

I Bianconeri have endured a challenging pre-season under Sarri. Their first friendly ended in a 3-2 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, and they needed penalties to get past Serie A rivals Inter three days later.

They came close to falling to the K-League All Stars, only for late goals from Blaise Matuidi and Matheus Perreira to spare their blushes.