Ronaldo misses Barcelona clash after reportedly testing positive again

Cristiano Ronaldo will miss Juventus' Champions League group stage match against Barcelona on Wednesday after reportedly testing positive for COVID-19 once again.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was officially ruled out of the highly anticipated fixture after manager Andrea Pirlo left him off the club's 21-man matchday squad.

Although Juventus didn't confirm the reason for his omission, Ronaldo reportedly still has the virus, though remains asymptomatic.

After initially contracting the coronavirus earlier in October while on international duty with Portugal, the 35-year-old received another positive result following the latest round of testing on Tuesday, according to The Athletic's James Horncastle.

Ronaldo is unable to compete Wednesday at the Allianz Stadium in Turin, as UEFA regulations state that a player must test negative 24 hours before a game to be included in the matchday squad.

Ronaldo tweeted that he was in high spirits shortly before the Juventus squad was revealed:

The match against Barcelona would have been the first time that Ronaldo has faced his old rival Lionel Messi since leaving Real Madrid in 2018.

Ronaldo left the Portuguese squad after testing positive Oct. 13 to return to Italy, where he went into self-isolation.

It's the second time that he has been ruled out just before a match after testing positive last week ahead of a Serie A fixture against Hellas Verona, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Juventus have won one and drawn two matches in his absence.

Last week, forward Alvaro Morata led the attack by scoring two goals in Juventus' 2-0 victory over Dynamo Kyiv.

Meanwhile, Giorgio Chiellini remains out through injury, while Leonardo Bonucci is available against Barcelona after recovering from an apparent knock that he picked up against Hellas Verona on Sunday.