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Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo will miss the Champions League group stage clash with rival Lionel Messi after the Italian champions failed to declare the Portuguese international had tested negative in time to face Barcelona.
The Serie A champions announced that Ronaldo tested positive for COVID-19 on October 13 and UEFA protocol states that a player has up to 24 hours before kick-off to return a negative test before he can be declared available.
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As Juve and Barça meet on Wednesday and no negative test was presented to UEFA, Ronaldo will not be available for the national team.
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Ronaldo and Messi, who between them have won 11 of the last 12 Ballon d’Or, have not met since the Portugal captain left Real Madrid for Juve in 2018.
This was to be their first meeting in a group stage of the Champions League, although they will have a second chance on December 12 when the two teams meet again at the Camp Nou.
After two positive tests among Juve staff, the club’s players were placed in fiduciary isolation, where they were expected to be quarantined within their own bubble. However, Ronaldo was one of the players who left early to join their respective national teams for the international break.
While with Portugal, although asymptomatic, Ronaldo tested positive for COVID-19 and returned to Italy in a specially disinfected ambulance plane.
Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora had accused Ronaldo of violating the country’s coronavirus protocol, but the 35-year-old denied this claim, calling it a “lie” in an Instagram post.
Source: espn.co.uk
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