Juventus great Alessandro del Piero says Cristiano Ronaldo needs greater support.

Del Piero insists Ronaldo isn't to blame for Juve's demise this season.

“You can't see Cristiano Ronaldo as a problem," the former captain said. “You embraced him three years ago, so you go with him.

“He's one of the best players in the world, with [Lionel] Messi. And now there are a couple of others that are doing quite well. [Kylian] Mbappé and [Erling Braut] Haaland, for example, or Neymar.

“But he's a great guy, he's a guy that scores every game. That's why they brought Ronaldo, for him to score every game and bring them the Champions League.

“Unfortunately, the Champions League is the situation where Juve are the worst actually. They exited the quarter-finals once and the round of 16 in the other two. So they are very poor results.

“But you need to build a team for him, and that's one of the keys. Juve have been winning for nine years in a row. It's also about keeping that level of concentration and energy on top, which is very tough.

“Besides, there's a new challenge on the bench. What happened in the three past years, is that you went from [Max] Allegri and changed completely the idea of football with [Maurizio] Sarri, for one year.

“Then you change again, with a guy that is an amazing guy, he's my teammate and of course I love him, but he's new in the job and has other challenges.

“OK, the club is very strong, but with all these things combined, it doesn't work that well at this moment.

“They need to watch out, in terms of the race for the Serie A title, because they have to keep going, but they must look at what happens behind them.

“Because Atalanta now, without the Champions League, will run very fast. So, there could be one spot left for the Champions League and that would be a game changer for the club, if it doesn't happen."