Juventus confirm injury blow, star ruled out for up to 20 days
Juventus have confirmed that Douglas Costa has suffered a thigh injury and that he will now undergo treatment with a 20-day layoff suggested.
The 29-year-old has bagged two goals and five assists in 17 appearances for the Bianconeri so far this season, as he has at times been a key figure for Maurizio Sarri in the final third.
With the reigning Serie A champions slipping up at the weekend as rivals Inter went top of the Serie A table, Sarri will be desperate to have as close to a fully-fit squad as possible at his disposal in the coming months.
Aside from the Scudetto battle, the Champions League returns this month too, and so the Italian tactician will want to be able to rotate and have options on the bench to ensure that they can compete on multiple fronts.
However, he’ll have to make do without Costa for a while, as Juventus confirmed on their official site that the Brazilian international has picked up a thigh muscle injury, and is expected to need between 15 and 20 days to make a full recovery.
Should that timeline prove to be accurate, Costa will miss the Coppa Italia clash with AC Milan on Thursday as well as Serie A games against Brescia and SPAL.
Juventus face Lyon in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie on February 26, and so it remains to be seen whether or not that comes too soon for Costa to be involved.
That game is followed by the crunch encounter with Inter in Turin on March 1, and so while Sarri does have a lot of quality depth in his squad to ensure that Costa isn’t missed the coming weeks, he’ll surely want him available as another option for that showdown with their Serie A title rivals.
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