MILAN (AP) – Cristiano Ronaldo’s prestige remains dubious in this weekend’s Serie A matches, meaning that Juventus may nevertheless have to find a way to win without him.
Ronaldo was still allowed to return after positive for coronavirus more than two weeks ago, and his absence was felt deeply through a young Juventus team that is going through a transition with new coach Andrea Pirlo.
The nine-time Serie A defending champion tied in his last two league matches without Ronaldo, opposite Crotone and Hellas Verona in last place, and beat Barcelona in the 2-0 loss in the Champions League on Wednesday.
In the role, however, Juventus will still be able to beat newly promoted Spezia on Sunday even if Ronaldo is not able to play, but the Bianconeri have won only 55% of their matches without Ronaldo since the Portuguese star joined Real Madrid in 2018, and are in danger of floor waste in the national name race.
The two recent draws have left him in the four-point leader, AC Milan, who will set his record for undefeated when he travels to Udinese on Sunday.
Ronaldo also struggles to look away while remaining quarantined at his home in Turin.
Ronaldo, 35, caused controversy on Wednesday by posting a photo on Instagram, hours before the attack on Barcelona, and the day after his last still-positive test for the virus.
Ronaldo captioned the photo: “Feel smart and healthy!” Forza Juve! “However, he added a comment, which he later deleted, an expletive to describe the COVID-19 test.
“He’s young, strong and rich. I probably wouldn’t even be in the virus. If the stage wasn’t so dramatic, it would make you laugh,” Massimo Galli, director of infectious diseases at The Luigi Sacco Hospital in Milan, said Thursday. “But the other people who have all this deserve not to create more chaos. “
Morata replaced Ronaldo and scored two goals in a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the Champions League last week. The Spanish striker had 3 offside goals against Barcelona.
Juventus failed to frame this attack and Pirlo knows he won’t be given much time if tension continues to grow, even if he only takes control off-season.
Pirlo, 41, won his first training task at the end of July when he appointed Juventus under-23 team, which plays in Serie C, but had not controlled a match before moving up to upgrade the laid-off Maurizio Sarri a little further a week later.
“It’s a year of construction, but we want to have effects. I’m not here to build and not to win,” Pirlo said. “Maybe we want a little time, but we want to know that the effects have to come through a taste of play that we would possibly have a hard time assimilating. “
___
More AP football: https://apnews. com/Soccer and https://twitter. com/AP_Sport