Ronaldo in good spirits on return to scoresheet

TURIN • Cristiano Ronaldo refused to be drawn on his social media comments after describing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests as “b***s***” but marked his return after recovering from Covid-19 in the best possible fashion of scoring.

More than two weeks after testing positive for the coronavirus on Oct 13 while on international duty with Portugal, the forward came off the bench as Juventus got back to winning ways in Serie A with a 4-1 win over promoted Spezia on Sunday to move into third place.

The game had been deadlocked at 1-1 when Ronaldo was introduced in the second half and he went on to grab a brace as the nine-time defending Italian champions put a stop to a sequence of two successive draws in the league.

This was Ronaldo’s first game for Juve since Sept 27 – he missed four games in all competitions – and the Portugal captain was thrilled to be back on the pitch.

“I have been stationary. I had no symptoms and I felt good. I was stopped for a long time even though I had no symptoms and felt good. Today I went back to doing what I like – playing football,” he told Sky Sports.

“Serie A is a competitive league. (AC) Milan are doing a great job, as well as Lazio and Napoli. We have to work hard, but we are growing.

“Cristiano is back, and this is the most important thing.”

Ronaldo, who had been furious at not being allowed to play in Juve’s Champions League 2-0 defeat by Barcelona last week, hit out at the accuracy of PCR tests, sparking controversy.

However, the 35-year-old, who is just two strikes behind league top scorer, Milan’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic (nine), did not want to expand on his frustration at being forced to isolate while asymptomatic, adding: “I don’t want to talk about it. The important thing is that I came back and we won.”

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE