Sports Burst - Cristiano Ronaldo Returns!
Cristiano Ronaldo is back in training with Juventus but questions remain on when the Portuguese pec-meister will be playing
By Tim Stannard/beIN SPORTS USA
CR7 back with Juventus after completing 14-day quarantine period
The last time Cristiano Ronaldo was on the pages of Sports Burst was a good fortnight ago and it concerned the logistical operation of moving his private jet, his staff, his belongings, and himself from Madeira, Portugal, to Turin, Italy.
That mission was eventually completed. CR7 then had to undertake a mandatory 14-day quarantine period at home due to Italian regulations. Hence, a relative media silence on all things Ronaldo with just the single Twitter photo of the player's pecs on a promotional post.
Tuesday sees what will no doubt be a necessary but at the same time unnecessary medical check-up to test the state of Ronaldo's fitness before the footballer returns to training with Juventus.
What happens after that is still up in the air.
As it stands, Serie A's clubs are waiting for the government's health council to approve the protocols which decree that if a player fails a COVID-19 test then that individual goes into 14-day isolation, rather than the whole team.
Until that issue is cleared, the Serie A teams are not moving into the group training phase.
There was another sign of Italian disconnect on Monday with the government declaring that no sporting events can take place in the country until at least after June 14, just a few days after Serie A boomed a restart date of June 13.
The Sports Burst live show will bring you all the latest from around Europe at 12PM ET / 9AM PT on the beIN SPORTS USA Facebook page, and beIN XTRA channel.
And don't forget the Sports Burst PM show at 7PM ET on beIN SPORTS which has a special guest with USMNT and Chicago Fire player, Jonathan Bornstein joining up.
Liverpool back in training but Troy Deeney stays home
Speaking of limbo, some English Premier League clubs have returned to training of sorts on Tuesday. Practice is now possible in small groups, numbering no more than five and following social distancing protocols.
Liverpool are one of the teams to return today, with Manchester United planning to get back to training on Wednesday.
However, Watford are set to be missing the club's captain, Troy Deeney, who has announced that he would not be going back to training having been unconvinced over his safety in a call with Premier League bosses last week.
"I asked very simple questions, for black, Asian and mixed ethnicities," says Deeney, "they’re four times more likely to get the illness, they’re twice as likely to have long lasting illnesses - is there anything extra?"
The Watford forward remained unconvinced by the responses and is following a family first policy. "My son is only five months old, he had breathing difficulties, so I don’t want to come home to put him in more danger."
The restart for Premier League matches is now expected to be on the June 19 or 26.
Joao Felix ready for action, Rakitic ready for phone call
One team that is set to come flying out of the blocks when soccer returns in Spain is Atletico Madrid with Diego Simeone now putting the team through double sessions.
Over in Barcelona, Ivan Rakitic was declaring his delight over training with his teammates again saying that "It was special, I felt like a footballer again". However, that wasn't the main topic of conversation with Spanish TV for the Croatian. Instead it was the player's future.
Indeed, the midfielder went full third person in a bit of a dig at the club during a time when the rumor mill had the footballer shipped off to PSG, Inter, Atletico Madrid and Sevilla this summer for starters.
"I would have liked the club to come out and say that Rakitic is staying to end the rumors," huffed Rakitic. "Bartomeu has not said anything. Perhaps they are listening and will call me tomorrow".
If they do, then Barcelona's bosses would have picked up on another comment from Rakitic, who both declared that there is an intention to see out his contract with Barcelona but that "I've never closed the doors on a big change".
