With how Juventus opened their Champions League campaign against Borussia Dortmund, this Wednesday night’s trip to Villarreal was always going to have a heightened amount of important. Yes, even more than
it already than most recognized when the UCL league phase fixture list was released.
Coming out of Juve’s second straight draw in Serie A and third in all competitions, that’s even more of the case.
That is due to the fact that two of Juventus’ best players, center back Gleison Bremer and midfielder Khephren Thuram, are doubts for the trip to Spain coming out of Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Atalanta, according to Sunday’s edition of Tuttosport. Both players were second-half subs against Atalanta, with Thuram the first to come off the field after he “felt a twinge in his calf,” according to Tudor, while Bremer was the last sub of the night with what the Juve manager said was a bit of fatigue and described as something that “I don’t think it’s serious.”
Bremer could be rested to avoid putting serious strain on his body as he still is just a few short weeks into his comeback from major knee surgery. The severity of Thuram’s calf injury is still to be determined, which leaves his status to face Villarreal completely up in the air.
Both players will likely undergo more tests on Monday to measure their availability to face the Spanish side as well as new Serie A leaders AC Milan at the San Siro next weekend.
Don’t you just love sweating out injuries to important players ahead of equally important Champions League fixtures? It really is the best. I didn’t miss this at all. Nope, not one bit. It’s the most enjoyable part of supporting a club.
Actually, let’s just end the sarcasm right there.
It’s not necessarily a surprise to see Bremer going through this kind of thing as he plays his first heavy dose of minutes since his ACL injury nearly a year ago. If he were to play against Villarreal, it would mean he’s taking the field in a Champions League fixture a day before he had been a full year since that unfortunate night in Leipzig in which he landed awkwardly after a 50-50 challenge with a player he now calls his teammate Loïs Openda.
Out of the two, it feels like Thuram is going to be the one who could miss the longer amount of time. No matter how minor of a twinge that Tudor thinks Thuram suffered, the fact that he both looked extremely fatigued as well as dealing with an injury is maybe a sign that his fitness is currently not in the most optimum of places.
We’ll know more once the very important duo undergoes more tests at J Medical come the start of the new work week. And if those two are unavailable for the trip to Spain, trying to beat Villarreal on their home turf will be even tougher than it already appears to be even when everybody is healthy.
