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Juventus suffered a massive blow as defender Giorgio Chiellini has been ruled out of the Champions League showpiece on Saturday. The experienced defender suffered a calf injury and will not be available to play against Barcelona.
The Italian suffered the injury on Wednesday during a training session where he pulled up his calf. He underwent a scan which showed that he suffered a tear to his left calf.
The club released a statement which confirmed that the star centre back will not be featuring in the final. “Giorgio Chiellini was subjected to tests following calf discomfort in yesterday’s session,” the statement said.
“The tests showed a first-degree lesion of the soleus muscle in his left leg, so the defender will not be available for the match against Barcelona,” the statement further added. Chiellini’s absence would be a big setback for the Bianconeri as the 30-year-old is their main defender.
The stats say it all as Juventus are a formidable unit with the Italian at the back. They have won 71.1% of their matches with him at the back. On the other hand, in the Italian’s absence, the team have managed to win just 45.5% of their matches.
The Italian outfit have a sort of injury crisis at the back prior to the final with Martin Caceres also being unavailable due to injury. Veteran defender Andrea Barzagli has also just returned from injury and may not be fully fit to feature in the final.
This could mean that Juventus may go with Angelo Ogbonna for the final or draft in 34-year Barzagli. The injury to Chiellini also means the defender will not face Luis Suarez for the first time since they biting incident occurred in the World Cup.
Chiellini had said that he had left the incident in the past and had no problem shaking Suarez’s hand when the teams met in Berlin. The much anticipated contest between the two will not occur while Massimiliano Allegri will have to find a way to stop Barcelona’s attacking threat in the absence of his central defender.
