Cristiano Ronaldo has returned yet another positive coronavirus result from the latest round of testing and will miss his reunion with Lionel Messi after he was ruled out of Juventus’ Champions League match against Barcelona.
The Portugal and Juventus forward has been in self-isolation since he tested positive in October, while on international duty with Portugal.
The 35-year-old also returned another positive result last week but underwent further testing yesterday, which still returned a positive coronavirus result.
Consequently, Ronaldo will miss Juventus’ blockbuster tie against Barcelona on Wednesday, 28 October 2020, as results in Italy have confirmed Ronaldo failed to test negative 24 hours ahead of kick-off, as required by UEFA in order to play.
His potential reunion with long time rival Messi would have to wait. The fixture was the standout match up when the Champions League groups were drawn.
The pair have 11 Ballon d’Or titles between them (Ronaldo, 5, Messi, 6) and have not faced each other in the Champions League since the semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the 2011/12 season.
Since testing positive, Ronaldo has missed three matches for Juventus, a victory over Dynamo Kyiv in their Champions League Group G opener last week, and two consecutive draws in Serie A.
Ronaldo is also asymptomatic and has gone about his regular life, posting regular updates on social media showing his home workouts, and boasting a new haircut.
Barcelona, on the other hand, head into Wednesday’s tie against Juventus in crisis yet again as president Josep Bartomeu and the club’s entire board resigned from their positions on Tuesday night.
The 3-1 El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid last weekend appeared to be the final straw after a summer, which saw Messi threaten to leave and accuse Bartomeu of lying to him.
Hmmmm
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