Juventus will miss star forward for at least two weeks

Juventus right winger Douglas Costa has suffered another injury and will miss the rest of the season.

Douglas Costa started against Lazio, but, otherwise, Juventus have mostly played him on the bench since his return from an injury when Serie A started up again.

While Costa is more than capable of starting over the massively disappointing Federico Bernardeschi on the right side, the issue is that starting him leaves him more open to an injury. And he tends to make a big impact off the bench.

Well, Costa has indeed suffered an injury, rubbing the salt in the wound for Juve after their last-gasp, 2-1 loss to Udinese that has the whole team embarrassed.

According to the team, Costa has suffered a Grade 2 thigh strain and will miss at least two weeks due to the injury.

That means Costa will miss the remaining few games of the season as Juve look to seal the Scudetto following the loss to Udinese. It also means that Costa could be a doubt for the upcoming Champions League match against Lyon, which will take place on the evening of Aug. 7.

Costa isn’t a starter, but he is an important player. The left-footed Brazilian is capable of scoring wonderful goals on the right side when cutting inside, and he also looked good as a creator on the left in the Coppa Italia. But because of Cristiano Ronaldo, he almost never plays on that side.

He’ll be missed, and his injury means that Federico Bernardeschi needs to step up big-time. Bernardeschi, with the exception of a starting trio involving Gonzalo Higuain and then Paulo Dybala on the right, is the full-time right winger now.

The future for Costa in Turin is uncertain, as Juve may be looking to swap him. He’s a good player, but his age and proneness to injury mean that he’s no longer a building block for the Bianconeri.