Why isn’t Weston McKennie playing for Juventus against Aston Villa in UCL?

The USMNT midfielder will not feature for the Italian giants in their trip to Villa Park on Wednesday.

Juventus midfielder Weston McKennie bounced back from a disappointing spell in England to establish himself as a regular for the Serie A giants.

The 26-year-old has featured in three of Juventus' Champions League games so far this season but will not be involved in Wednesday's trip to Aston Villa. McKennie was not part of the matchday squad after suffering an injury earlier this week.

The USMNT was forced to abandon Juventus' training on Monday after suffering muscle fatigue and did not recover in time to play for Thiago Motta at Villa Park.

Juventus struck with a wave of injuries

McKennie's absence from the squad list was a surprise, but he is far from the only Juventus player to miss this crucial UCL match. Stirker Dusan Vlahovic also trained separately on Monday and was not in the selection.

Juventus midfielder Douglas Luiz will miss the chance to face his former side after also reporting a muscle injury in October. He has yet to return. Arkadiusz Milik and Arthur Melo have also suffered injuries that keep them on the sidelines.

“Injuries don't happen to us lightly or by chance,” head coach Motta said on Monday, alluding to widespread concerns about the impact of busy schedules on players' fitness. “At this point it would not be constructive to find out the reason behind it. We have to deal with the situation by giving that little bit more.”

Juventus will know they face a tough test at Villa Park, where a jubilant home crowd watched their team beat Bayern Munich to start their Champions League campaign. Villa have struggled to match last season's form in the Premier League but will relish the prospect of becoming a major player in Europe again.