Many italian soccer lovers were surprised and excited by the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo in FC Juventus.
After several years in which we have been used to see the best players going away in the most powerful European teams, finally we can say that the Best player in the world is in Serie A.
The same surprise has caught all those who thought that READY...GO! and Ronaldo would start to score loads of goals. I believe all of us, or almost.
We all know that reality has gone differently and that the Number 7 is still stuck to 0 goals after the first 3 league matches.
There are those who explain this event underlining the differences between the defenses of the Liga and Serie A.
Who speaks, instead, of wrong tactics, of the need to enter better in the new team, or even simply of bad luck.
This unexpected situation triggered my curiosity and so I wondered what had been the results of the best players arrived in Serie A, at the beginning of their experience in Italy.
And so, I have selected those I believe are some of the strongest players, without distinction of period, age and team to which they belonged.
And I analyzed their performances in the first games played.
For those who played both in LIGA and in Serie A, I will extract the average goal/match in the championships, without taking count of the national and European Cups.
Let's go see what has came out.
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DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA
Impossible not to immediately make a compare with El Pibe de Oro, the strongest player who has ever played in the Italian league.
Maradona arrived in Naples from FC Barcelona in 1984, when he was not yet 24 years old. The team was not yet built to win the Championship, fact which would happen three years later (in 1987) and then, a second time in the 1989/90 season.
In his first three Serie A matchs, Diego played all for 90 minutes and was able to score 1 goal against UC Sampdoria on his second appearance in the league.
SSC Napoli didn't have an easy start, with two defeats against Hellas Verona and Torino FC. The only point won was the one obtained at the San Paolo stadium, against Samp, thanks to the goal of his just arrived champion.
Maradona completed the season with 14 goals in 30 appearances and SSC Napoli obtained the 8th place in the championship with 33 total points.
Goal/match average in FC Barcelona (2 seasons, only LIGA) : 0,61
Goal/match average in SSC Napoli (7 seasons, only Serie A) : 0,43
Goal/match average in Sevilla FC (1 season, only LIGA) : 0,19
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MICHEL PLATINI
Since we are talking about CR7, to stay on Juve's theme, I went to see what had been the first results of Le Roi Michel Platini, in the black-white team. He is an absolute Legend.
It was 1982, Platini came from AS Saint Étienne and was 27 years old. With the French team had already won a Ligue 1 and he had an even greater ambition in Italy.
In that season, the start of Juventus was not at all brilliant, in the first 3 games, two defeats arrived. Among these, on the second turn, there was the victory against ASD Cesena and also the first goal by Michel.
The number 10 succeeded to win the title of top scorer with 16 goals and Juventus obtained the 2nd place behind the AS Roma of Liedholm and Falcao.
In the following years, Platini, during his Italian period, won with his club 2 times the Serie A championship, 1 Italian Cup and the European Cup remembered for the Heysel Stadium disaster.
Then a UEFA Super Cup, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and an Intercontinental Cup.
He was awarded the Ballon D'Or for three times and led his National Team to conquer the UEFA European Championships played in France in 1984.
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MARCO VAN BASTEN
How different would have been the career of The Swan of Utrecht without all the injuries that persecuted him?
Nevertheless, Marco van Basten, Ballon D'Or in 1992, is one of the players who has won most of all in his period, dominating in Italy and in international competitions with AC Milan, in addition, triumphing with the Orange National team in the UEFA European Championship.
The first season in AC Milan was heavily conditioned by the left ankle injury, suffered after the first appearances in the league. But yet, his experience in the black-red team had started immediately with some goals: one in the Italian Cup debut against AS Bari and again in the first Serie A match against AC Pisa.
Then, the 6 months of forced stop and at the end of the season, a Scudetto won without being having the possibility to be a protagonist.
In total, the goals in the league were 3, scored in 11 total appearances.
In the following years, however, van Basten was twice Top Scorer of Serie A and, luckily for the fans and soccer lovers, showed his extraordinary skills and his immense talent, before definitively retiring at only 31 years.
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GABRIEL OMAR BATISTUTA
Although he has not won much in international competitions, I believe that the Lion King should be absolutely included among the most important foreign strikers arrived in Italy.
Endowed with technique and power, Gabriel Batistuta has made the history of AC Fiorentina, team in which he remained for 9 seasons, becoming one of the historic captains and also accepting to play in Serie B to stay and not leave Firenze.
When he arrives from Argentina in 1991, he is only 22 but immediately shows an undisputed confidence with the goal.
In his first match in Serie at the Stadio Franchi in Florence, he signs the 3-1 win against Genoa CFC.
At the end of the season, the goals are 13 in 27 games, while at the end of his career in AC Fiorentina are even 168 in 269 appearances, for what concerns only the championship.
Three times Serie A Top Scorer, he had the deserved satisfaction of winning the Scudetto with AS Roma in the 2000/'01 season, in which he was a great protagonist with 20 goals.
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RONALDO LUIS NAZARIO DE LIMA
The other Ronaldo (for many, the real one) was one of the greatest strikers ever seen in Italy and was welcomed at Inter in 1997 as a fantastic star.
Just like van Basten, the Fenomeno has had to deal with bad luck and stop several times in his career, not because of an ankle, but, in this case, because of his fragile knees.
The Brazilian started his italian adventure in a really positive way. He made no goals in his debut match against Brescia Calcio, but scored to Bologna FC and at San Siro against AC Fiorentina.
Were 3 wins in 3 games, but Ronaldo did not stop there: 9 goals in the first 11 turns and 25 in the championship at the end of the season, preceded only by Oliver Bierhoff.
What happened then we all know: the very disputed match against FC Juventus of that year, the reiterate injuries and the mockery of 5 May 2002, have made a bit less brilliant his story in FC Inter.
But the 3 times Ballon D'Or, nevertheless, was perhaps the last great international star to arrive in Italy before CR7.
Let's see if the Portuguese will be able to take up and honor this legacy.
Goal/match average in FC Barcelona (1 season, only LIGA) : 0,91
Goal/match average in FC Inter (5 seasons, only Serie A) : 0,72
Goal/match average in Real madrid (5 season, only LIGA) : 0,65
Goal/match average in AC Milan (2 seasons, only Serie A) : 0,45
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Thank you for reading, I hope you liked it!
See you soon!
Girolamo
Follow me and @scorum-italia
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