Juventus will go into the UEFA Champions League group match against Chelsea without Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata. The two important players of the club are out due to different degrees of injuries.
Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata got injured on Sunday, September 26, during the Italian Serie A game between Juventus and Sampdoria at Juventus stadium.
During the league match, Dybala gave Juventus the lead in the 10th minute and was forced to leave the game in the 22nd minute after developing a thigh problem.
In his absence, Leonardo Bonucci doubled Juventus’s lead from a spot-kick in the 43rd minute. In the 44th minute of the game, Maya Yoshida scored for Sampdoria.
While in the 57th minute, Manuel Locatelli scored Juventus’ third goal to make it 3-1. The goal did not stop the visitors from fighting back as their effort earned them a goal in the 83rd minute, thanks to Antonio Candreva’s strike.
Less than two minutes before Sampdoria’s second goal, Alvaro Morata sustained a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Moise Kean in the 82nd minute.
After the 3-2 win over Sampdoria, the coach of Juventus, Massimiliano Allegri confirmed that Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata would miss the Champions League game against Chelsea on Wednesday, September 29. The game is expected to kick off at 20:00.
Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata would also miss the league game against Torino on Saturday, October 2, 2021. The match is expected to kick off at 17:00.
The absence of the two players is seen as a big blow especially as it came few days before a game against UEFA Champions League defending champions, Chelsea.
Chelsea and Juventus are joint top of Champions League Group H which means that any team who suffers defeat on Wednesday would have to make do with the second spot or less pending the outcome of the game against Zenith and Malmo.
In reaction to the unavailability of his two key players ahead of the Champions League clash, Allegri said: “This is part of the season. Now it happens to us then, later on, it will happen to someone else. It’s part of the game. You have to be good at playing these games even with absent players.”
On the other hand, Chelsea could play the Champions League group game without Reece James who suffered a twisted ankle on Saturday, September 25 during the Premier League game against Manchester City.
During the game which ended 1-0 in favor of Manchester City, James had to be replaced by Thiago Silva in the 29th minute after he collided with City’s Jack Grealish.
After the game, the coach of Chelsea, Thomas Tuchel said: “He twisted his ankle and it was very painful for him. I have no other news on him at this stage but let’s see how he is in the next few days.”
At the time of publishing this report, it has not been confirmed whether Chelsea would play against Juventus without the English defender.
