JUVENTUS HAVE CONFIRMED that veteran defender Giorgio Chiellini has suffered a ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Chiellini suffered the injury in training on Friday and is now set to miss several months, with his entire 2019-20 season now in doubt.
The Serie A champions said that the 35-year-old is set to undergo surgery in the coming days.
Chiellini’s absence will be a major blow for Juventus as the club looks to win its ninth straight Serie A title in 2019-20, as well as its first Champions League title since 1995-96.
The veteran has been a stalwart for Juve since joining the club prior to the 2005-06 season, and made 25 league starts last season as the Bianconeri won their eighth consecutive Serie A title.
Chiellini started alongside Leonardo Bonucci in Juve’s first Serie A game of this season, and scored the game’s only goal in a 1-0 win over Parma last weekend.
The veteran duo’s presence in the Juve lineup meant there was surprisingly no room for Matthijs de Ligt, who joined from Ajax in the off-season in a €75 million (£68m/$84m) transfer.
De Ligt admitted he was surprised to not start the opener, but also said he understood it wouldn’t be easy to walk into a defence as strong a Juve’s.
“Of course, I would have preferred to play,” De Ligt said after the game.
“I couldn’t read this based on the training sessions, in that sense I didn’t see this coming, but obviously I respect the decision of the coach.
“I’m also realistic, I’m still getting used to being here in Italy. The duo that played today, Chiellini and Bonucci, were seen as the best defensive pairing in the world.”
But the 20-year-old likely won’t spend many more games on the bench after Chiellini’s injury, with the former Ajax captain now set to play a major role for his new club.
Another off-season signing, Merih Demiral, is likely also in line for a bigger role this season, with the 21-year-old Turkey international joining from Sassuolo in the summer.
Juventus will take on Napoli on Saturday in a match-up of the winner and runner-up from Serie A in the past two seasons.
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There were many standout moments this year, many players that stepped up to the mark but for me the one player who epitomized all the good things about Leinster is Robbie Henshaw. Himself and Ringrose make Leinsters and Ireland’s best centre pairing and consistently deliver a quality of performances not matched by others either here or abroad. Long may it continue.
My wish for 2021? That we can get back to supporting our team. God I miss the RDS match days.
@Ro Molloy: so true
So if you include last seasons victories with this seasons, it something like 27 played and 26 wins. Which is an incredible stat.
@Greg Cavey: 28 out of 29 if you Champions Cup. That’s phenomenal. However they haven’t played any decent teams this yet this season. The lack of depth in most PRO14 squads makes it easy for them when the internationals are on.
Munster & Ulster are also too strong for most other PRO14 teams.
Leinster were convincing in Europe. Munster showed grit and hinted that real progress is being made. Ulster? More depth required & maybe more quality in some positions.
Playing in the PRO14 isn’t improving Leinster but maybe when the top SA teams join it will improve them & the other Irish provinces and therefore the national team.
@TL55: Why would they need to improve…They are the best in the league by far.
@Harry O’Callaghan: To beat the likes of Saracens, Exeter and Toulouse.
Leinster correctly want to the big fish in the big pond not just the little pond.
@Harry O’Callaghan: So champions cup quarter final losses are the acceptable Leinster standard now are they? Do you think Exeter aren’t looking to improve or will they just sit and wait for someone to take the champions cup and premiership from them?
@Kohn Jeenan: it’s acceptable to lose 1 game of rugby per season. This can happen if you can’t see the improvement year on year at leinster well your just not looking.
@Chris Mc: I didn’t say they aren’t improving though, they are, I was saying they definitely need to keep improving, since it was implied they don’t need to improve at all just for being the best club in the pro14….
@Chris Mc: do you not think leinster have some issues at the setpiece? Furlong should shore up the scrum but leinster still have a bit of a dependence on toner
@Tim Magner: the leinster lineout is very poor even with toner in it.
Any team who competes in the air will win a fair amount of leinster ball. Its hard to understand as Cullen was a very good lineout operator.
Its far too complicated, too many moving parts and as simple as it sounds putting toner (or Ryan) straight up at 2 often discourages teams from competing and as such makes ball to the back easier to win in the long run.
@Chris Mc: I just don’t think the leinster pack has improved since ’18. Back then they had probably the 2 best props in europe in furlong & healy, ryan was on fire, toner was 2 yrs younger, fardy was keeping lowe out of the hcup squad and leavy was at his best. Since then porter and doris have shown their mettle at international level and baird looks a serious prospect but I dont think the pack now is as good as it was
@Tim Magner: fair point, healy is not getting any younger and Jack is gone. Furlong will be back soon enough and porter is a fine prop.
Hooker we are in a better place and while Ryan is not playing as well as he was what’s coming through with baird Dunne and Moloney is getting better. The backrow is better now. Leavy is almost there and doris is firing, Conan, jvdf, connors, penny ruddock Murphy etc are all seriously pushing each other. This pack will gell over the next few months. Only real concern is at looshead.
@Chris Mc: yer by no means in a bad place, ye still have the best pack in the pro14. I think the 18 pack was the best in europe though. As you say though the 2 young hookers look the business, penny has the look of a class player and baird could be special so as a munster fan I know leinster are going nowhere
@Tim Magner: I guess time will tell with this lot. In fairness the munster pack is becoming a serious unit too. Bar kilcoyne your missing a front row but have a few younger ones who could step up but the likes of coombes JOD and Aherne all could really make the grade. Theres nothing like players who grew up wanting to play for a club.