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Juventus dealt huge injury blow ahead of Napoli clash

By James Cormack

TURIN, ITALY - AUGUST 14: Federico Chiesa of Juventus during the Pre-Season Friendly between Juventus FC and Atalanta BC at Allianz Stadium on August 14, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY - AUGUST 14: Federico Chiesa of Juventus during the Pre-Season Friendly between Juventus FC and Atalanta BC at Allianz Stadium on August 14, 2021 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images) /
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Federico Chiesa will miss Juventus’ Serie A clash with Napoli on Saturday after sustaining a muscle injury while on international duty with Italy.

Chiesa’s stock has risen perpetually since the start of 2021. The electric winger enjoyed a stellar second half of the 2020/21 season with Juve and was superb for the Azzurri amid their successful European Championship campaign in the summer.

The 23-year-old made his first start of the new season in the defeat against Empoli two weeks ago and is certainly one of Massimiliano Allegri’s key men this term. His strike against Bulgaria in Italy’s first September international fixture perfectly depicted his brilliance.

However, he suffered a flexor injury after coming on as a substitute in the stalemate with Switzerland and left the Italy camp ahead of the Azzurri’s final clash of the month against Lithuania.

Chiesa won’t be risked against Napoli

After departing the Italy camp, Chiesa underwent tests at the J-Medical centre on Thursday morning to determine whether he’d picked up a muscle injury.

Fortunately, his MRI returned a negative result but Gazzetta dello Sport’s Giovanni Albanese confirmed that Chiesa will not be included in the squad for the upcoming trip to Naples as a precautionary measure.

He’s set to return to action next week when the Old Lady travel to Malmo for their first fixture of the Champions League group stage.

One of several absences

While Juve’s caution over their destined superstar is understandable, Chiesa’s absence significantly inhibits the Bianconeri’s chances of getting a result against Luciano Spalletti’s Napoli

Massimiliano Allegri already had his hands tied in regards to team selection, with the club’s South American contingent unlikely to be available. Thus, Danilo, Alex Sandro, Paulo Dybala, Rodrigo Bentancur and Juan Cuadrado could all miss out.

Their endless list of absences has triggered reports in the Italian media of Allegri possibly deploying a 3-4-3 to mitigate against the loss of both starting full-backs.

Moise Kean is in line to make his second debut for the club, while Dejan Kulusevski is set to replace Chiesa. Federico Bernardeschi and Mattia De Sciglio, meanwhile, could line up at wing-back.

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