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Oct. 28 (UPI) -- One of the most-anticipated games of the 2020-2021 Champions League will be without one of the world's best soccer players as Juventus striker Cristiano Ronaldo has been ruled out of Wednesday's match against Barcelona. Sources told Sky Sports, ESPN and Goal.com that no negative COVID-19 test results for Ronaldo have been presented ahead of the Juventus-Barcelona game, which is at 4 p.m. EDT on Wednesday in Turin, Italy.
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UEFA -- the European administrative body for the tournament -- stipulates that teams have 24 hours before kick off to return a negative test before players can become available for games. Juventus announced on Oct. 13 that Ronaldo tested positive for COVID-19.
Ronaldo and longtime soccer rival Lionel Messi were set to have their first head-to-head battle since 2018 in the group-stage match.
Messi and Ronaldo last shared the soccer field on May 6, 2018, when Barcelona and Real Madrid had a 2-2 draw in La Liga. Ronaldo left Madrid to join Juventus the next season. Messi's teams have a 16-10-9 record in 35 matches against Ronaldo's teams.
Juventus faces Spezia in Serie A on Sunday after the Barcelona match. The Italian team then battles Ferencvaros in the Champions League on Nov. 4 in Budapest, Hungary.
Barcelona returns to La Liga with a match against Alaves on Saturday after their game against Juventus. Messi will lead the Spanish squad against Dynamo Kyiv in their next Champions League match on Nov. 4 in Barcelona.
Ronaldo has missed three matches -- not including the Barcelona game -- since he tested positive for COVID-19.
