Juventus were hoping for a timely boost at the back ahead of their next Champions League fixture, but Gleison Bremer and Daniele Rugani remain out.
Since his arrival at the club, Luciano Spalletti has been operating with a depleted backline. In recent weeks, he regained the services of Lloyd Kelly and Juan Cabal, but lost Federico Gatti to a meniscus injury.
The Italian international underwent surgery on Thursday in Nantes, and is expected to remain on the treatment table at least until mid-January.
The good news for Spalletti is that Bremer and Rugani have been making progress in training in recent days. The Brazilian suffered a setback after hurting his knee in late September, while the Italian veteran picked up a knock last month.
But according to TuttoJuve, neither one will be available for Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Pafos. The duo should instead return for the weekend trip to Bologna or the following Serie A showdown against Roma.
Gleison Bremer (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Therefore, Spalletti will have no other option but to confirm Teun Koopmeiners alongside Kelly and the ever-present Pierre Kalulu in the three-backline, unless he decides to drop the formation altogether and unleash a 4-3-3 system.
While Koopmeiners’ experiment at the back had started on an encouraging note, his defensive limitations were exposed in Sunday’s defeat to Napoli, as he couldn’t contain the tricky David Neres.
Juventus are facing another must-win Champions League contest, as they have only assembled six points from the first five matchdays of the group stage.
On paper, the Old Lady should be able to sweep aside the Cypriot champions. And yet, the two sides are currently on par in points.
Moreover, the Bianconeri might be running low on confidence after suffering their first defeat of the Spalletti era. Still, they’ll rely on a packed Allianz Stadium to cheer them up and help them collect three crucial points.
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