Ronaldo a doubt for Ajax Champions League clash says Juve boss Allegri
Star player out of Juventus squad for Serie A clash with Empoli and Allegri admits he may not be ready for European quarter-final first leg on Wednesday
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CRISTIANO RONALDO is a major doubt for Juventus in their Champions League clash with Ajax next week.
Juve's star player has been struggling to recover from a hamstring injury suffered while on international duty with Portugal.
Ronaldo limped off just half hour into Mondaay's Euro 2020 qualifier against Serbia on Monday having pulled up sharply while sprinting.
At the time the 34-year-old insisted he was confident he would be fit and ready for the Champions League quarter-final first leg against Ajax on Wednesday.
But Juve have left the former Real Madrid star out of their squad for this weekend's Serie A game against Empoli.
And manager Massimiliano Allgeri admits the forward is now a big doubt for the European tie in Turin.
Allegri said: "We need to be prudent. It's best if he misses one game rather than two months of the season.
"We're heading into the final stages of the season and there's not much time to recover, and we've still got two Champions League games to play.
"Ronaldo will return when there is no longer any risk of a setback.
"He'll undergo tests on Monday and we'll take it from there.
"Obviously, he's a doubt for the first leg, and Cristiano knows full well that if he's not fit, he won't play because we cannot risk the season in just one game."
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Juve have the luxury of not having to rush Ronaldo back too quickly in the league, given their dominance of Italian football.
They currently enjoy a 15 point lead over nearest rivals Napoli and are about to collect their eighth successive title.
That will enable them to take all the precautions needed to ensure Ronaldo plays at least some part over the two legs against Ajax, who knocked out Real Madrid in the last-16.