Cristiano Ronaldo insists there is nothing to fear after suffering a hamstring injury in Portugal’s 1-1 draw against Serbia on Monday, adding that he is “not worried” about it going forward. The Portugal star insists he is “calm” after suffering an injury in Monday’s draw with Serbia.
Portugal hosted Serbia in Lisbon for Monday’s Euro 2020 qualifier, having drawn their opener in a scoreless effort against Ukraine. But the day was marred by an early Ronaldo injury as the Juventus star pulled up with an apparent hamstring issue in the first half.
He was removed in the 30th minute of the match, but Ronaldo himself insists that the issue is a minor one that doesn’t have him concerned heading into some vital matches with Juventus. “I’m not worried, because I know perfectly my body,” Ronaldo said following Monday’s draw.
“It happens, it’s football. Who’s out there risks it. I’m calm, because I know I’m going to be back well in one or two weeks with no problem.” Ronaldo’s assessment will be received as good news by Juventus, who are set to face Ajax in the Champions League semi-finals.
Juventus will go toe-to-toe with the Eredivisie side on April 10 in the first leg of that semi-final clash in Amsterdam before returning to Turin for the second leg six days later.
If Ronaldo can recover in that “one or two” week timespan, it would have him back in time for those clashes after previously leading Juve to that round with a hat-trick against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of their Round of 16 battle.
Before facing off with Ajax, Juventus do face a trio of Serie A matches at the conclusion of the international break, having already amassed a 15-point lead on second-place Napoli.
Juventus are set to return to action on Saturday against Empoli before facing off with Cagliari three days later. Focus will then turn towards AC Milan on April 6 ahead of the trip to the Netherlands for the Champions League semi-final first leg.
With the Ronaldo injury, Portugal ended up settling for a 1-1 result on Monday, with Dusan Tadic’s early opener cancelled out by Danilo Pereira’s 40th-minute equaliser.