SAN FRANCISCO, October 27, (THEWILL) – Italian Serie A giants Juventus are patiently awaiting results of a fresh round of coronavirus tests to be certain if their Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo will be able to play in the much anticipated UEFA Champions League ‘El Clasico’ against Barcelona.
Ronaldo was sidelined in self isolation after the forward tested positive for COVID-19 while on international duty with Portugal this month. As a result, he missed a pair of Serie A draws with Crotone and Hellas Verona either side of a 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kiev in the UCL.
A decision on his availability for their next Champions League clash with Barca and long-time rival Lionel Messi on Wednesday, which will depend on the results, will go down to the wire.
The game at Juve’s Allianz Stadium will be the first time Messi and Ronaldo will go head-to-head in the competition in nine years. Their last competitive fixture in the UCL was in May 2011 when Barca eliminated Real Madrid in the season’s semi-finals.
“He had a swab today [Tuesday] like everyone else,” head coach Andrea Pirlo is quoted as saying of Ronaldo. “We have to wait for the outcome of the test. I think it will come in the evening.
“We have to wait for the result, then we’ll see [if he will play]. For now, everything is still uncertain. We hope to be able to evaluate him even if it’s not easy after 15 days of inactivity.”
Juve has defense concerns as well, with centre backs Giorgio Chiellini and Matthijs de Ligt ruled out for muscle injury and a dislocated shoulder respectively and Leonardo Bonucci facing a late fitness test.
“Tomorrow we will see what players we have available. Barcelona are strong and have great champions. We will have to play a great game,” he said.
Pirlo concludes that, “The players will certainly have to sacrifice themselves and play a great game. [Weston] McKennie is training but I don’t think he can play as a defender [against Barcelona].
“I’ll continue with a back four because I only have four defenders.”
THEWILL believes there is so much to look forward to in this week’s slew of UCL fixtures and this El Clasico ranks high on that list. Tomorrow cannot come soon enough for those who have waited a long time for this and hopefully, Ronaldo will be on the team to face the Catalan side.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
