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A day after their 5-2 dismantling at the hands of Manchester City, Juventus received one last bit of salt in the wound coming out of the first loss at the Club World Cup.<\/p>\n
Considering how things looked as Nicolo Savona reacted to being injured in the second half of Thursday afternoon\u2019s loss to City in Orlando, Florida, good news was likely not on the way. And, in fact, the news after the young Italian defender underwent scans on his left ankle brought nothing that is all that encouraging. Juventus announced Friday that Savona suffered \u201ca high-grade capsular-ligament lesion\u201d in his ankle that will rule him out of however much longer Juventus\u2019 stay at the Club World Cup ends up being. <\/p>\n
Juve\u2019s announcement said that Savona \u2014 who started all three of the Bianconeri\u2019s group stage games in the middle of their three-man defense \u2014- will be re-evaluated in a month, but the Italian media is saying he could very well be out for a total of closer to two months. If that is the case, then Savona is suddenly a candidate to miss pretty much all of preseason training in this unconventional summer and potential still be working his way back to full fitness ahead of Juventus\u2019 Aug. 24 season opener against Parma.<\/p>\n
Here is the full text of Juventus\u2019 update on Savona\u2019s ankle injury:<\/p>\n
\nNicolo Savona, following the trauma to his left ankle suffered during Thursday\u2019s match against Manchester City, underwent diagnostic tests today which revealed a high-grade capsular-ligament lesion. He has already begun his rehabilitation programme and will be reassessed in a month\u2019s time.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Considering that Juventus are not exactly boasting their full array of defensive options as Igor Tudor continues to utilize his customary three-man backline, losing Savona is certainly not a positive development heading into Tuesday night\u2019s CWC Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid in Miami. Federico Gatti has been slow played back into a heavy workload after dealing with a broken bone in his heel late in the season. Gleison Bremer is on the trip but has not played a minute of competitive game time as he works his way back from his October ACL injury.<\/p>\n
So, with Savona now down injured, could that open up a chance for somebody like Daniele Rugani \u2014 who is back in the squad after returning from being on loan at Ajax \u2014 to face Real Madrid? As much as Gatti is the first choice to play, he still has not played a full half of football in the Club World Cup, so it\u2019s hard to know where his match fitness is at these days.<\/p>\n
Either way, it looks as though it will be a couple of months before we see Savona again \u2014 and it\u2019s just another injury to add to the list of ones this defensive unit have had to deal with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n