The 35-year-old has missed Juve's past four matches, including a midweek Champions League clash with Barcelona

Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo has been cleared to return to the team after testing negative for Covid-19.

The Serie A side confirmed the news on Friday in a statement on their official website. 

"Cristiano Ronaldo carried out a check with a diagnostic test (swab) for Covid-19," the statement read.

"The exam provided a negative result. The player has, therefore, recovered after 19 days and is no longer subjected to home isolation."

Ronaldo will now be eligible to return for Juve's Serie A clash against Spezia on Sunday after he missed out on the club's previous four matches.

The 35-year-old originally tested positive for coronavirus on October 13 while on international duty with Portugal, forcing him to miss his country's 3-0 win over Sweden the following day.

Upon his return to Juventus, the former Manchester United and Real Madrid star was forced to miss four consecutive games as he failed to produce a negative test.

Ronaldo was unable to participate as Juve drew Crotone and Verona in Serie A play, while he also missed out on a Champions League win over Dynamo Kiev and a 2-0 defeat to Barcelona earlier this week.

Missing out on the chance to face his long-time rival Lionel Messi and Barca was especially tough to swallow for Ronaldo, who posted and then deleted a comment on Instagram questioning the accuracy of the Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. 

"PCR IS BULLSH*T", he wrote, before eventually deleting the comment.

Ronaldo has made just two appearances for Juventus this season, having last played in the 2-2 draw against Roma at the end of September.

The 35-year-old has still managed to score three goals and add one assist in those two matches.

Ronaldo has also found himself under investigation for a possible breaching of protocol after he flew back to Italy following his positive test result. 

Italian sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora has claimed that Ronaldo was not able to enter the country without the proper authorisation from Italian health officials.

Spadafora told Rai Tre: "Cristiano did not respect the protocol. There is an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor's Office to prove it.

"The virus has taught us that no one is exempt, obviously they are all people who have tried to respect the protocols as much as possible, but the only solution, in the end, is to stay at home."

https://www.goal.com/en-ng/news/juventus-star-ronaldo-cleared-for-return-after-testing/mwkuzma974ka1t8mvi9s39mrd

b]Phillip Cocu's time in charge of Derby County has come to an end, with Wayne Rooney being part of the coaching team that will take charge at Pride Park on an interim basis.Hoddle

The former England international has been working as a player-coach but could see his responsibilities increase somewhat following this news.

All we know for certain at the moment is that Cocu has been shown the door after an abysmal start to the season in the Championship. The Rams currently sit rock bottom of the table, having picked up just six of a possible 33 points available.

The former PSV Eindhoven and Fenerbahce coach, who took over at Derby from Frank Lampard after his departure for Chelsea, leaves the club with a record of 22 victories, 17 draws and 26 defeats in 65 games.

Derby thanked Cocu and his staff for their work with the youth squads and their efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The club would like to place on record its appreciation for the way Phillip and his staff conducted themselves in what were some extremely challenging situations during his tenure," the statement read.

"Phillip and his staff helped develop and establish a considerable number of academy players into the first-team squad and Phillip made significant financial contributions and personal efforts towards the club's community projects during the COVID-19 pandemic, which the club are extremely grateful for.

"Derby County wishes to thank Phillip, Chris [van der Weerden, Cocu's assistant] and Twan [Scheepers, a first-team coach] for their hard work and dedication over the last 16 months and wish them every success in their future careers.

"The club will provide further updates when appropriate and will be making no further comment in the meantime."

Rooney has working for a while to make the move in to coaching, so his appointment doesn't come as a surprise. His ex-England teammate Jamie Carragher has tipped him to get the job on a full-time basis.

"There's no doubt for me that he'll be the next Derby County coach," said Carragher on the radio station TalkSPORT. "It's one of the main reasons he came to the club."

The club, however, are refusing to comment on the matter. Since arriving at Derby in January 2020, Rooney has scored seven goals in 33 games for the club. If he does become player-head coach, having previously just been player-coach, he will be filling a role which is quite uncommon in modern day football.

He'll be joining many famous footballing names who have also taken up the position, such as Graeme Souness, Ryan Giggs, Gianluca Vialli, Kenny Dalgish, John Toshack and Glenn Hoddle

Source:https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/derby-wayne-rooney-cocu-sack-23012815.amp