Juventus could be without both Arthur Melo and Juan Cuadrado for Saturday’s Serie A clash against Bologna.
Massimiliano Allegri had just recently navigated his way through an injury crisis, with Juve being without nine first-teamers at one point, before their injury list cleared at the start of April. The likes of Denis Zakaria, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci have returned from their respective issues in the past couple of weeks.
However, Juve were dealt a blow in the wake of their Derby d’Italia defeat as it was revealed that Manuel Locatelli had picked up a knee injury that would keep him out of action for a month. Now, two more players are set to join Locatelli on the sidelines.
Juan Cuadrado & Arthur Melo are both injury doubts for the upcoming Serie A clash against Bologna
⚠️ Arthur & Cuadrado’s injuries to be assessed over the next few days ahead of #JuveBologna
— JuveFC (@juvefcdotcom) April 13, 2022
Nicolo Balice (via @JuveFC) reported on Wednesday morning that Cuadrado has picked up a minor adductor injury that will be monitored daily ahead of Saturday’s game against Bologna.
Arthur, meanwhile, underwent tests at J-Medical which showed that he’s sustained a “contusive blunt trauma of the right ankle”. The Brazilian picked up the knock during training, and he, too, will be monitored daily due to the absence of any serious problem.
But, the likelihood is that Arthur won’t make Allegri’s matchday squad. Cuadrado seems to have more of a chance.
Nevertheless, Arthur’s injury means that the manager will once again have to get creative with his midfield selection. Perhaps he could use Adrien Rabiot and Denis Zakaria as a double pivot with Alvaro Morata playing off the left and Federico Bernardeschi on the right in a 4-4-2.
We saw Allegri rekindle Andrea Pirlo’s experiment by using Danilo in midfield against Salernitana, while highly-regarded teenager Fabio Miretti made his Serie A debut in the same game and has recently emerged as a regular in the senior squad.
I’m sure the vast majority of supporters would love to see Miretti on Saturday. But this is Allegri, folks. Don’t hold your breath.