Kenan Yildiz being substituted out early in the second half of games that are still very much in the balance is not something that Luciano Spalletti has done all that often — at all — since he became Juventus manager right before the month of November arrived. The young Turkish star has logged a lot of minutes and been at so much of the good that Spalletti has actually achieved in the race for the top four, so it’s no wonder that a quick hook before the hour mark has been few and far between.
But
that was the case for Yildiz during Saturday night’s win over Atalanta.
It was due to a knee issue that has been bugging Yildiz that caused him to have a relatively quiet night and subsequent be subbed off in the 58th minute by Spalletti, according to a Monday report from Tuttosport. Spalletti himself mentioned during his post-match press obligations that Yildiz was one of a few starters who entered Saturday night’s game with some sort of issues, but that there was enough reason to think that they were healthy enough to start. According to Tuttosport, it is “slight knee inflammation” that is currently hampering Yildiz and he will receive treatment ahead of Bologna’s visit to Turin this coming Sunday night.
A key point that Tuttosport mentioned: Yildiz has not undergone any sort of scans nor has any sort of trip to J Medical planned — which is a pretty good sign when it comes to how Juventus are thinking about his status.
The good news is that Juventus have eight days in between their win in Bergamo and their next fixture on Sunday night against Bologna at the Allianz Stadium. That is a lot of time for Yildiz — who is unsurprisingly amongst Juventus’ minutes leaders this season — to rest and get treatment on this knee issue that was alluded to a couple of times on the world feed broadcast on Saturday night.
But Tuttosport is here to remind you that “the coaching staff and medical team have everything under control at the moment.”
If that’s the case, then it’s pretty obvious just how important of a development this is for Juventus’ chase for a top-four finish. It’s no sort of insider information that a (mostly) healthy Yildiz gives Juventus the best chance of achieving that, and if he is able to shake loose this knee inflammation over the next week or two — yes, even with just how important the next two weeks are on the schedule — then it’s a big deal at a crucial time.
Now we just hope that when he faces Bologna on Sunday that Yildiz can both start, play much better and for more minutes than he managed this past weekend against Atalanta. That sure would be nice for a Juventus team that will enter Matchday 33 in fourth place, two points ahead of fifth-place Como.
