Ronaldo ‘doing fine’, but doubtful for Barca clash

Portugal boss Fernando Santos says Cristiano Ronaldo is 'doing fine' after testing positive for coronavirus and has not shown any symptoms of the virus.

The 35-year-old Juventus forward was due to face Sweden on Wednesday night in the Uefa Nations League but has been forced to self-isolate in the team hotel after his latest coronavirus test came back positive.

Despite mingling with his teammates for the past week, the rest of the squad have all tested negative and will be allowed to take part in the match against Sweden as planned.

Ronaldo has been able to able to watch training from his hotel room, even shouting instructions down to the players, and Santos says the former Real Madrid star is disappointed he will not be able to play.

"The plan is the same. But the dynamics are different. Cristiano has his own characteristics. No team can be better without the best player in the world but this team has already demonstrated that collectively it has the capacity to tackle the situation.

"He is managing the situation very well. He is in the room, saying he wants to play, he talks to us from from the balcony.

"He is completely asymptomatic, he is okay, he doesn't even know what happened to him."

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini said he had spoken to Ronaldo. "He's fine and was sunbathing, he'll be back when he's ready," he reported.

It is also a blow for Juventus, as the health protocol in force for Serie A say Ronaldo must self-isolate for 10 days and then record a negative test before he can resume playing.

Ronaldo is also in doubt for Juventus's marquee Champions League clash with Barcelona on Oct 28, which was set to pit Ronaldo against his old rival Lionel Messi.

As per UEFA rules, Ronaldo must return a negative test seven days prior to any match, meaning he must return a negative test in the next seven days.