Denis Zakaria and Giorgio Chiellini are both having to be assessed at J Medical today after having to be subbed off during Juventus’s win over Verona.
The defender initially pulled up after around 30 minutes of play and the medical team had to give him the once over on the pitch, but he managed to see out the half, and even came out in the second-half also before being replaced with 15 minutes remaining on the clock.
Zakaria almost made it through the full 90 minutes of his debut, scoring our second goal of the game as we earned the 2-0 victory, but he picked up a knock in the final 10 minutes of play, and was replaced by Weston McKennie.
The manager admitted in his press conference after the game that they were replaced due to injury, but he didn’t have all the facts to assess anything further than what the initial issues are.
“Zakaria picked up a knock at the lumbar, while Chiellini has calf issues,” Allegri said at a post-match press conference as translated by Football Italia.
The above report also adds that the pair will be assessed today to gauge when they should expect them to return to action.
It will be a huge shame if Zakaria was to be ruled out after such an impressive debut which he capped off with the goal, although I do feel that we have sufficient cover in the role in McKennie if need be.
There is no indications as of yet to give us reason to believe that either will be absent for our Coppa Italia clash with Sassuolo on Thursday, although you wouldn’t expect either to be rushed back for that game either.
Patrick
