Juventus confirm Cristiano Ronaldo's return after recovering from COVID-19
Juventus have confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to return to action after successfully recovering from the coronavirus. The Portuguese star tested positive for the same while on national team duty earlier this month and has not featured for club or country since then.
The Bianconeri were also forced to play without Cristiano Ronaldo against Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League, as they fell to a 2-0 defeat at the Allianz Stadium earlier this week.
Italy's sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora launched an investigation to prove that Cristiano Ronaldo violated protocols after testing positive, as publicly attacked the Juventus talisman.
"Cristiano Ronaldo did not respect the protocol. There is an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's OfficeĀ to prove it."
"Obviously they are all people who have tried to respect theĀ protocols as much as possible, but the only solution, in theĀ end, is to stay at home."
Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo gets into a war of words with Italian sports minister
Cristiano Ronaldo, however, rubbished such claims and affirmed that he had followed the required protocol after testing positive.
"A gentlemen here in Italy, whose name I won't mention, said I didn't obey the protocol - that's simply a lie."
"I followed all the protocols and I will continue to follow them, my conscience is clear... Everything I did was authorised."
"We did everything the right way - leaving the [Portugal] team, in the air ambulance, arriving in Turin... I did not have contact with anyone."
After nearly three weeks, Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to take part it team training, as he looks set to return to action imminently. Juventus have not been in good form without their talisman and will be eager to name him in the starting XI in the coming week.
Andrea Pirlo's side struggled for goals in Cristiano Ronaldo's absence, with their 2-0 home defeat against Barcelona a classic example of how dependent they are on the Portuguese star.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the most high-profile footballer to have tested positive for COVID-19, but the former Real Madrid star has now completed his recovery and will return to action in the coming days.