The football world was shocked when they learned that Cristiano Ronaldo – who is arguably one of the best players ever – was confirmed to have contracted the coronavirus last night.
UEFA Nations League defending champions Portugal confirmed the said development in a statement and they’ve indicated that Ronaldo will undergo self-isolation as soon as possible.
The good news is that the 35-year-old isn’t showing any signs of symptoms, so he is expected to recover and get back to playing high-level football soon.
As of the moment, Portugal and Juventus would have to adjust without him by their side and it will be interesting to see on how they will fare in the next few weeks.
So how will Ronaldo’s absence affect his clubs? Together with SBOTOP, let us examine the short-term outlook due to this development.
Portugal facing a minor bump in the road
Portugal may be the leaders right now in Group A3, but they may not be able to hold on to their slim margin for long especially with France lurking behind them.
Both of these clubs have seven points each with only two goals separating between them, which explains Portugal’s small edge in the group table.
Because of the mandatory two-week self-isolation period, Cristiano Ronaldo is not expected to play in their upcoming clash against Sweden over at the Estadio Jose Alvalade tomorrow, and his pursuit for Ali Daei’s record for most goals scored in the international level (109) will have to wait for now.
At the same time, the teams that have faced Portugal recently should have their players checked as well to confirm whether they got the coronavirus or not for safety purposes.
While Portugal remain favoured in our UEFA Nations League 2020 odds for the game tomorrow, Fernando Santos’ side cannot afford to take on the Swedes lightly.
Even before this piece of UEFA Nations League 2020 news happened, Portugal weren’t exactly at their best as far as their form is concerned.
While they cruised past Croatia and Sweden in their first two group matches via high-scoring performances, Portugal couldn’t do the same in their exhibition against Spain and in their five-star tiff versus France.
Both of those matches were goalless draws as defence was the name of the game, which means that Portugal would need to get back to the drawing board especially with one of their top strikers out.
Fernando Santos’ side should easily win over Sweden simply because they have more firepower. This is the perfect time for the likes of Joao Felix, Bruno Fernandes, and Diogo Jota to take over.
After the game against Sweden, the international break will be over and all of the players will go back to their mother clubs.
Can Juventus cope with their tight schedule?
In club football, Cristiano Ronaldo plays for Juventus, who are gunning for their 10th straight Scudetto this season.
Like Portugal, Juventus have yet to hit their peak, so there is some growing concern especially with rivals such as Atalanta and AC Milan sitting on top of the standings as of this writing.
The Bianconeri started their season with a bang when they thumped Sampdoria with a 3-0 scoreline, but it was followed by a disappointing perfomance as they were held to a 2-2 draw against AS Roma.
As far as their Serie A schedule is concerned, it’s a good thing for them that they are entering a relatively easy three-game stretch before they visit Lazio on the first week of November.
Andrea Pirlo’s men will face Crotone, Hellas Verona, and Spezia and they shouldn’t have any trouble in beating them all with or without Ronaldo as long as they play their A-game.
On the flip side, football fans may be in for quite a disappointment if things don’t go to plan for Cristiano Ronaldo.
Juventus will face Dynamo Kyiv in their first UEFA Champions League game this season and they’ll have no problems whatsoever in dispatching them.
But after that, they will clash against Barcelona on October 29th in what should be a mouthwatering affair between two of the greatest footballers ever in Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
With Ronaldo self-isolating for the next two weeks, it is still unsure on whether he can make it in the said game and be at his full strength.
Regardless, Juventus vs Barcelona should be a fun match to watch but it would’ve been much better if Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo will face off anew.
These two teams will meet again on December 9th over at Camp Nou, and I am sure that it will be worth the wait.
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