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Cristiano Ronaldo will miss his reunion with Lionel Messi after another positive test for Covid-19 ruled him out of the Juventus Champions League match against Barcelona.
Ronaldo has isolated himself since testing positive while in international service with Portugal on October 13.
He had another positive result last week, but underwent further tests in an attempt to prove his fitness before Juventus’ tie against Barcelona on Wednesday.
But Sky italy confirmed that Ronaldo did not test negative 24 hours before the start of the match, as required by UEFA to play.
The 35-year-old’s possible reunion with his rival Messi was the highlight when the Champions League groups were drawn.
The couple, who have 11 Ballons d’Or between them (Ronaldo, 5, Messi, 6), have not met in the Champions League since the semi-final between Real Madrid and Barcelona in the 2011/12 season.
Ronaldo has missed three games for Juventus since testing positive, a victory over Dynamo Kiev in their first Champions League Group G match last week and two draws in Serie A.
He has been asymptomatic and has posted regular updates on social media showing his workouts at home and sporting a new style.
Barcelona are heading into Wednesday’s tie against Juventus in crisis, with president Josep Bartomeu and the entire club’s board resigning from their positions on Tuesday night.
El Clásico’s 3-1 loss to Real Madrid last weekend appeared to be the final straw after a summer in which Messi threatened to leave and accused Bartomeu of lying to him.
Juventus vs Barcelona preview
Besides Ronaldo, Juventus He will definitely run out of Giorgio Chiellini and Matthijs de Ligt, and Weston McKennie is likely to miss out too.
Pirlo is also sweating from the fitness of his teammate, defender Leonardo Bonucci, and Paolo Dybala is expected to show up after starting his first game of the season against Hellas Verona at the weekend.
Barcelona it will not have the suspended Gerard Piqué, who was sent off against Ferencvaros, while Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Samuel Umtiti and Philippe Coutinho are also out due to injury. Neto is expected to continue in goal.
There will also be familiar faces on both sides. Miralem Pjanic, now at Barcelona, and Juventus midfielder Arthur switched between the two clubs in the summer, and goalkeeper Neto also played for the Italian team previously.
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