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Cristiano Ronaldo has been left out of the Portugal squad for the upcoming game against Albania on 17th September as part of the Euro 2016 qualifiers due to his fitness problems.

Portugal manager Paulo Bento announced in a press conference that the medical department of the Portuguese federation decided that the player "is not fit to take part", despite having played for his club recently.

"Regardless of the fact that he has played regularly, his physical problems prevent him from taking part", said the manager. The 29-year-old has been suffering from a knee injury since last summer, which affected his performances in the Champions League final and the Brazil World Cup.

The squad, with several changes compared to the group which travelled to the tournament in Brazil, features eight players from the Spanish league, including Ronaldo's Real Madrid teammates Fábio Coentrao and Pepe.

Bento's squad is as follows:

Goalkeepers: Eduardo (Dinamo Zagreb, Croatia), Rui Patrício (Sporting, Portugal) and Anthony Lopes (Lyon, France)

Defenders: João Pereira and Rúben Vezo (Valencia, Spain), André Almeida (Benfica, Portugal), Fábio Coentrao and Pepe (Real Madrid, Spain), Antunes (Málaga, Spain), Ricardo Costa (Al-Sailiya, Qatar) and Neto (Zenit, Russia)

Midfielders: William Carvalho and Adrien Silva (Sporting), Miguel Veloso (Dynamo Kiev, Ukraine), Raul Meireles (Fenerbahçe, Turkey), Joao Moutinho (Monaco), André Gomes (Valencia, Spain) and Pedro Tiba (Braga, Portugal)

Forwards: Nani (Sporting, Portugal), Vieirinha (Wolfsburg, Germany), Bruma (Galatasaray, Turkey), Éder (Braga, Portugal), Ivan Cavaleiro (Deportivo, Spain) and Ricardo Horta (Málaga, Spain).