Cristiano Ronaldo has been included in the Juventus squad which will travel to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the Champions League quarterfinal first leg -- but captain Giorgio Chiellini and Emre Can have missed out. Ronaldo has not played since suffering a hamstring injury during Portugal's Euro 2020 qualification clash with Serbia on March 25. However, he has been included in the 21-man travelling party for the game with Ajax. "Unless something happens, Ronaldo will play," Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri said. "It's a pity not to have Chiellini and Emre Can, but the others are fine. "Having Douglas Costa back is important, [Paulo] Dybala had a good training session this morning. [Daniele] Rugani will play at centre-back [instead of Chiellini], it's an important opportunity for him and we're happy. "The team is in good shape, we had some important days in training, as we can lay the foundations of qualification for the next round and then this weekend the opportunity to win the Scudetto in Ferrara against SPAL." Reports in Italy have suggested that Chiellini suffered a calf injury training on Monday. Can, who was subbed off during Saturday's 2-1 victory over AC Milan, has also missed out with ankle sprain. Moise Kean, who has scored in each of his last five matches for club and country, has been included in the travelling party. The Italy international is one of six attackers, alongside Ronaldo, Dybala, Costa, Mario Mandzukic and Federico Bernardeschi. After having been given a scare by Atletico in the last round, Allegri said his side will be more offensive in Amsterdam to ensure they get an away goal. "Tomorrow we must play a more attacking and courageous game than with Atletico Madrid, because we cannot think of leaving here without a goal," he said. "It's not often that we see a turnaround of the likes we had against Atleti. "Ajax knocked Real Madrid out, but also gave Bayern Munich problems in the group stage. It's the first game of two and we'll see what happens." Juve face Ajax in the Dutch capital on Wednesday, with the return in Turin on April 16.<doc-sep>It is pretty funny — or whatever work you want to choose to go here — how things can change from one Champions League preview to another. The theme of the last one was easy: Juventus was in serious trouble, and very much needed to be perfect if the club didn’t want their first season in years being all in on the Champions League coming to an end much, much earlier than anybody who calls Turin their current home was hoping for. Because of what happened on March 12, arguably the best Juventus game we’ve seen all season long, I am now writing this Champions League preview. And, as much doom and gloom as there might have been in the days and then hours leading up to the second leg against Atlético Madrid, there isn’t any of that now. Juventus has reached the Champions League quarterfinals, and plenty of people are again tipping them for European glory a couple of months from now. It’s natural, I guess, to think that way seeing as Juve were on the brink of elimination and roared back in such fashion that it pretty much declared their European intentions right in front of our eyes. A season that hasn’t had many memorable game will be highlighted by what happened in Turin a month ago. But, as much as we enjoyed that game, the end goal is that it was just a step in the process. For Juventus, the knockout stages at the Wanda Metropolitano in Madrid. And, as we’ve been hearing from the summer months on, that’s where Juventus want to be the first weekend of June. (Same here, by the way.) Juventus obviously enter the first leg far from a full-strength side. Their best defender and captain, Giorgio Chiellini, was not called up due to an injury he suffered in training on Monday. Arguably their most in-form midfielder at the moment, Emre Can, was not called up due to an injury he suffered in Saturday’s comeback win over Milan. It’s far from the most ideal kind of situation that Max Allegri has in front of him. But it’s also a situation that Allegri has seen plenty of the last handful of weeks as Juve’s tried to work its way through a whole host of injuries. Either way, Juventus won’t just have to weather the storm of their captain not at the back, but also try and slow down an Ajax team that is coming off a remarkable round of 16 showing where they guaranteed that this edition of the Champions League will see a different team lifting the trophy than the previous three. They’re young, they’re talented, they press the hell out of the opposition and they’re obviously full of confidence based on the simple fact of what they did in the last round. Ajax is quite the impressive team — both for the individual talent and the collective unit they have shown they are this season. But, when it all clicks, same goes for the one Allegri will be managing Wednesday night. Maybe, just maybe, the date April 10 will become an easy reference to what happened as March 12 has over the last four weeks. That sure as hell would be nice — so would going back to Turin knowing Juve won’t need a super-human effort to keep their European aspirations alive. GOOD NEWS It’s the Champions League quarterfinals! BAD NEWS Injuries are stupid. This is the 104,565th confirmation of that. THREE KEYS 1) The health (and effectiveness) of Cristiano Ronaldo Of course, no matter who else is injured, Juventus playing in the Champions League is going to revolve around Cristiano Ronaldo. The last time we saw Ronaldo on the field, he was pulling up lame in his return to international duty with Portugal. Juventus have been rather coy — and understandably so — with the details of his rehab and progression to full health. Max Allegri’s comments have leaned more toward how much he hopes Ronaldo will be healthy rather than guarantees about his status for the first leg against Ajax. And, then the squad list came out and Ronaldo’s name was there. Not that it was a surprise at all. If you were to pick a match for Ronaldo to return in, this would be the one. And I have a feeling that, despite the big-ish kind of feel to the Milan fixture over the weekend, Ronaldo had always circled the first leg against Ajax as the game where he marked his return to Juventus’ starting lineup. Now, it’s about just how effective Ronaldo can be. There’s no doubting that he will be up for this game because the Champions League knockout rounds is where the dude feasts on things. This is where Ronaldo has become one of the game’s best-ever players. But, the fact still remains that the guy hasn’t played for a couple of weeks, and as much as we know he’s a cyborg who is conditioned unlike few in this game, it will be interesting to see just how lively he is after a couple of weeks of injury rehab. And hey, maybe we get to see Ronaldo with this incredibly exciting version of an in-form Moise Kean at some point against Ajax. That should be fun, right? 2) Daniele Rugani stepping in for Giorgio Chiellini Although the sample size is small, Juventus has shown they can survive in games without Ronaldo this season. Although the sample size is equally as small, Juventus’ ability to survive without Chiellini has been ... not great. With Chiellini injured and not making the trip to Amsterdam, this is the latest chance for Rugani — and his brand new contract extension — to try and be at least a somewhat worthy stand-in for Juventus’ incredibly valuable captain. Based on the fact that Chiellini has been fantastic this season and his central defense partner, Leonardo Bonucci, has been not-so-fantastic or anything close to it, Juve’s going to need a mammoth defensive effort from all parties involved to keep Ajax off the scoreboard.<doc-sep>Cristiano Ronaldo is set to play on Wednesday in the Champions League after returning from a thigh injury he picked up in March on international duty. Ronaldo hasn't played since the international break ended as he nursed the injury, but he was named a starter for Wednesday's match against talented Ajax in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Juventus coach Massimo Allegri said he'd start in a press conference from Amsterdam: Ronaldo trained with Juventus on Tuesday and was named to Juve's squad for the quarterfinal, but the confirmation that the Portuguese star will start is obviously positive news for the club. Having Ronaldo in the starting XI is the best option for the team as he's the competition's top scorer in history and already has four goals in this season's UCL. Juve vs. Ajax (preview) will air on Wednesday at 3 p.m. on fuboTV (Try for free)<doc-sep>Cristiano Ronaldo is fit enough to start for Juventus in Wednesday's Champions League quarter-final first leg against Ajax. Ronaldo over injury suffered in win against Atlético Head coach Massimiliano Allegri has confirmed the 34-year-old has recovered sufficiently from a thigh injury sustained while on Portugal duty last month. "Cristiano has trained well with the team. He will start tomorrow night," Allegri told a news conference on Tuesday. Ronaldo has not played for the Serie A leaders since scoring a hat-trick in the 3-0 last-16 second-leg win over Atlético Madrid on 12 March. Khedira or Bentancur to start in Juve midfield Allegri also confirmed that either Sami Khedira or Rodrigo Bentancur will start in midfield, with Emre Can ruled out with an ankle sprain. However, he said Germany midfielder Can is in line to be fit for the return game in Turin on 16 April. "He was in good form and I hope to have him at my disposal for the return leg," Allegri said.<doc-sep>
Ronaldo in Juventus squad to face Ajax but Chiellini absent The Portugal international is likely to start in Amsterdam although the club's influential centre-back misses out through injury Juventus have received mix news on the injury front with Cristiano Ronaldo available and in the squad for their Champions League meeting with Ajax but Giorgio Chiellini is forced to miss out. There were concerns that the Portugal international would not be able to shake off a thigh injury in time to feature in Wednesday's showdown with the Dutch side. He did, however, take part in training with the rest of the squad on Tuesday and was subsequently part of the travelling party heading to Amsterdam. Article continues below There is less positive news over the fitness of captain Chiellini, however. The Italy international defender was already a doubt for the first leg in Amsterdam with a calf injury and, having missed training on Monday, he was forced to undergo a session away from the group. And he has since been ruled out of the first leg, with Chiellini's name not part of the 21-man squad named to face the Eredivisie side. Former Liverpool midfielder Emre Can is also missing after he had to train separately from the rest of the squad on Tuesday as he continues to struggle with an ankle problem. That could see Sami Khedira, who only recently returned to action following a heart problem, take his place in the starting XI in what would be his first start since February 15. Should, as now expected, Ronaldo feature from the start against Ajax, it will be his first appearance for Juve in four matches. Having been rested for the 2-0 defeat to Genoa, Ronaldo subsequently injured his hamstring on international duty with Portugal where he had to be withdrawn after 30 minutes of the 1-1 Euro 2020 qualifying draw with Serbia. That meant he missed Juve's three matches after the international break, including the 2-1 triumph over AC Milan that has put them within touching distance of another Serie A crown. A draw or win in Saturday's clash with 16th-placed SPAL will see them win an eighth consecutive Italian top-flight title and ensure Ronaldo will have won league titles in England, Spain and Italy. With the Serie A title all but clinched, Massimiliano Allegri's side will be hoping they can make significant progress in Europe and, should they manage to advance past Ajax, they will then face either Manchester City or Tottenham in the semi-finals. And they will likely be looking to Ronaldo for inspiration, with the 34-year-old scoring an incredible hat-trick to ensure Juve recovered from a 2-0 first-leg deficit to beat Atletico Madrid and advance through to the quarters.