In their first friendly of the winter break, Juventus played against Arsenal in the absence of the eleven players who participated in the World Cup.
In addition, Max Allegri could not count on the services of Paul Pogba and Federico Chiesa. The Frenchman has yet to take the field since he suffered a meniscus injury last July.
For his part, the Italian had returned to the pitch, but suffered a knock in training earlier in the week. Although it was slight, it was enough to scare the bianconeri supporters considering the club’s recent history of injuries.
Following the win over the Gunners, Max Allegri provided some updates on the conditions of Chiesa, Pogba and the rest of the club’s casualties.
While the manager spoke reassuringly about the winger’s condition, he had no words of comfort to say about the midfielder’s injury, opting not to make any predictions on a potential return date.
“Chiesa is just tired, but it’s normal when you come back after nine months of inactivity,” Allegri said in his post-match interview with Sky Sport.
“I preferred not to risk it, but on December 27 he will be back with the rest of the team.
“Unfortunately, Pogba has not trained yet, so I don’t know when or how he will return. There is no need to set up a theater for a player who has not yet run a meter.
“Bonucci shouldn’t be out for long. Cuadrado will be there on December 27. Both he and De Sciglio should be back before the restart against Cremonese on January 4.”
