Juan Cuadrado recovers from COVID-19

Of the small group of Juventus players that have spent the better part of the last three weeks in isolation/quaratine, Juan Cuadrado wasn’t the first one to test positive for COVID-19. He is, however, the first player of the trio that came down with the illness to test negative.

Juventus announced early Wednesday that Cuadrado has gone through the proper COVID-19 protocol and tested negative for the virus after his Jan. 5 diagnosis. He has, as a result, joined up with his teammates ahead of Wednesday night’s Supercoppa against Napoli. Alex Sandro, the first Juve player to test positive for COVID-19 this month, and Matthijs de Ligt remain in quarantine after the club’s latest round of testing.

From Juve’s official website:

Juan Cuadrado carried out, as per protocol, two controls of the molecular test (swab) for Covid-19 with negative results. Therefore, the player has recovered and is no longer subjected to the isolation regime. He will join the team in the Reggio Emilia training camp on the same day and will be included in the squad list for tonight’s match.

And it seems like we won’t have to wait long to see Cuadrado return to the field, either. With Juventus announcing that Cuadrado has joined up with his teammates ahead of the Supercoppa against Napoli, Goal Italia’s Romeo Agresti has reported that Cuadrado is expected to make his return to the starting lineup on Wednesday night, giving Pirlo a big boost with the return of one of this season’s better performers.

If that’s the case — and we have no reason to doubt Agresti’s reporting — then it will be quite interesting to see where Cuadrado’s match fitness is at seeing as he hasn’t appeared in a game since Juve’s 3-0 loss to Fiorentina on Dec. 22. (And nobody wants to remember THAT game.)