Vlahovic undergoes surgery in London, Gatti in Nantes. Men counted in the defensive department and the Juventus coach accelerates the metamorphosis
Today, after all, will be a day zero. Both for Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Gatti, both under the knife abroad to come back stronger when everything is behind us. The first will undergo surgery in London and then begin a long, slow rehabilitation with the aim of returning on track at the beginning of Marchwhile the second will undergo surgery in France and will not return to play official matches until January. In short, it’s not a great moment for Juventus, who on Sunday at Diego Armando Maradona will show up without six players out due to injury: the two already mentioned, Gleison Bremer, Daniele Rugani, Carlo Pinsoglio and Arkadiusz Milik. Of these, at least three can be considered on the starting list and therefore force coach Luciano Spalletti to prepare an anti-Napoli lineup that makes a virtue of necessity. However, injuries are part of the game and the former coach of the Italian national team, despite himself, also has to deal with defections.
Over the Channel
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The most serious injury is that of Vlahovicwho left the pitch in tears after half an hour of Juventus-Cagliari last Saturday: “high-grade lesion of the muscle-tendon junction of the left adductor longus“said the report of Monday’s instrumental tests and the centre-forward, in agreement with the club, decided to take the path of surgery rather than a conservative therapy which in any case would not have brought him back to the field before around three months, with greater risks of relapse. Today, at the Mayo Clinic in London, Dusan will be operated on and in fact he will already be looking forward to the long run towards his return which – as always – will then depend on his body’s response to the therapies and the sensations of the direct interested. In any case, the fans will not see him on the pitch again until the last days of the winter.
Out of the game
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The outcome of the tests on Gatti – who was injured on Tuesday evening against Udinese – instead arrived late yesterday morning, serious: “tear of the medial meniscus of the right knee” For the centre-back there was no alternative and already in the evening he flew to France to be operated on by Doctor Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, the same one who has already put Gleison Bremer back on his feet in Lyon: the operation will take place in Nantes because that is where the orthopedic surgeon is located and then he too will have to work to get back to the top. It can be estimated a stop of about a monthmaximum 45 days. In the meantime, however, the Juventus plate is crying in defence.
Metamorphosis
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Given that Bremer and Rugani will also remain in the pits for about a week, it will be tough for Spalletti to continue on the path of a three-man defence. In fact, Pierre Kalulu, Lloyd Kelly and Teun Koopmeiners remain available to form the back line with the only alternative being Juan Cabal, but the impression is that the coach could make a virtue of necessity accelerating the transition to a back four. It has already been seen, for example in the construction phase in the round of 16 of the Italian Cup, but the definitive change has not yet been completed. In that case the centre-backs would still remain Kelly and Koopmeiners – probably forced to return to defense after the good performance in the midfield -, but so be it Kalulu that Andrea Cambiaso and Cabal they could move like full-backsas well as the usual wildcard Weston McKennie. It’s no secret that Spalletti is looking at a line-up of this type and Gatti’s stop seems to set the stage for the decisive acceleration for the metamorphosis. Of course, it is better to change by choice and not by emergency, but guiding the Lady in this historical moment also requires an attitude of “knowing how to make do”. The testing phase is ending: Luciano is ready to launch his new Juventus. Even without Gatti, even without Vlahovic. Or rather, waiting for their return.
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