Dusan Vlahovic will miss Juventus' trip to AC Milan in Serie A this weekend and is also doubtful for the Champions League match at Aston Villa, head coach Thiago Motta has confirmed.
Vlahovic returned from the international break with a muscle problem in his left thigh and the manager, after confirming the Serb's absence for Saturday's match at San Siro, was asked about his chances of playing at Villa Park on Wednesday.
“I don't know. He certainly won't be there tomorrow. We hope to have him back as soon as possible,” Motta told a news conference on Friday.
“Injuries are part of football. Now it's Vlahovic's turn, but we will continue to play with the same principles, attacking and defending together.”
Vlahovic is Motta's latest injury at Juventus. Argentina winger Nicolas Gonzalez has missed the last six league games and is still unavailable, while Polish striker Arkadiusz Milik is out for a long period of time.
Brazilian midfielder Douglas Luiz will also miss the match with Milan and defender Juan Cabal recently suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury, the same problem that will keep fellow defender Gleison Bremer out for the rest of the season.
“I'm very disappointed for Cabal because like Bremer he will be out for a long time,” Motta said.
“This is another reason to push ourselves, to do that little bit more, so that these absences do not weigh too heavily.”
Mr Motta on Saturday #MilanJuve pic.twitter.com/2YJ61F1w8u
— JuventusFC 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@juventusfcen) November 22, 2024
Juventus go into the match as the only unbeaten side in Serie A, but sit sixth in the standings in what has been a very tight title race so far, with just two points separating Motta's side from league leaders Napoli.
“It's very balanced and this is good for both us and the public,” Motta said.
“We must all try to continue in this way. We must try to achieve as many positive results as possible.”
Milan are one place behind Juve, but six points behind Motta.
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