Massimiliano Allegri doesn’t seem to be too worried about Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata’s injuries as he says the upcoming match against Chelsea is ‘not decisive.’
The Bianconeri won their first home game of the season against Sampdoria but lost Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata to injuries.
The Argentinean had scored the opener with a shot from the edge of the box in the first half before leaving the pitch due to a muscular injury.
Allegri confirmed that both he and the Spaniard won’t be available for the next two games against Chelsea and Torino and hopes they will return to action after the break.
Speaking at a post-match press conference, Allegri failed to release further updates about their injuries but suggested he is not too worried ahead of the game against Chelsea.
“We’ll see how to play against Chelsea without Dybala and Morata,” he said via Football Italia.
“It’s not a decisive game anyway. The key games for the qualification are those against Zenit.”
Both the Serie A giants and Chelsea won their opening game in the Champions League two weeks ago.
Juventus beat Malmo 3-0 in Sweden, while the Blues snatched a 1-0 win against Zenit at Stamford Bridge.
Paulo Dybala was left in tears after trudging off the pitch through injury days before Juventus’ massive Champions League clash with Chelsea.
The Argentine forward, 27, scored a stunner from long range to give the crisis club the lead after just ten minutes.
But another ten minutes later, Dybala was left crying into his shirt after picking up a knock.
The news will be a cruel blow to the forward and boss Massimiliano Allegri with their huge game against Chelsea on Wednesday night.
Despite their domestic struggles, Juventus won their Champions League opener 3-0 away to Malmo.
But they know Chelsea will prove a much sterner test, with a double-header against Zenit St Petersburg to follow in the competition.
Manuel Locatelli appeared to kill the game off shortly before the hour-mark, before Antonio Candreva set up a nervy final ten minutes with his late strike.
Juve endured a torrid start to their Serie A campaign, losing early on to Empoli and Napoli as they struggled after Cristiano Ronaldo’s departure.
The prolific goalscorer left Turin to return to Manchester United after 12 years away.
Dybala was one of those left behind who were tipped to emerge from the Portuguese’s shadow at Allianz Stadium.
Skipper Giorgio Chiellini even suggested Ronaldo’s presence may have been holding his team-mates back in their hunt for goals.
Lionel Messi was able to train normally today with his Paris Saint-Germain teammates according to Diario AS.
Messi suffered a knock on his left knee during PSG’s 2-1 victory over Lyon on September 19th, meaning he missed their 2-1 win away at Metz as well as their 2-0 defeat of Montpellier at Parc des Princes last night.
An MRI scan earlier this week confirmed signs of a bone contusion.
His return is, however, good news for the French club, who had been sweating on the Argentine’s fitness after he missed their last two games through a knee complaint.
PSG play Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday.
It’s still not guaranteed that Messi will be ready for the big game, and a final decision won’t be made until the last minute given the former Barcelona man still needs to undergo several tests.
Marco Verratti is in a similar boat; the Italian trained with the group at Camp des Loges this morning for the first time since he was injured representing his country during the international break.
Kylian Mbappe was filmed complaining about Neymar in last night’s contest, claiming he didn’t pass him the ball enough.
Olivier Giroud explains why he joined Milan from Chelsea and reveals the Rossoneri’s targets this season.
The French striker moved to San Siro in a €1m deal from Chelsea over the summer, signing a two-year contract with the Serie A giants.
The 34-year-old has scored two goals in four appearances across all competitions so far this season.
“It was an obvious choice to join Milan. I supported this club when I was younger, the teams with Papin, Van Basten and Baresi. I am proud to have joined this club and I hope to have fun here,” the former Chelsea star told Telefoot.
“The welcome I received was wonderful. I was welcomed as in a family. I made a great debut, there I feel very good and I’m hungry to win with Milan,” he added.
The Frenchman was drafted in as a bac-up for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but he is now getting regular playing time as the Swedish striker is recovering from an injury.
“Zlatan is a legend and there will be a real competition between us,” Giroud claimed.
“I can score at least 15 goals, that’s what I hope. If I play every game, that’s what I expect.”
But which are Milan’s targets this season? Can they win the Serie A title after returning to the Champions League?
“I hope so, we have the quality and young players. It’s a clear target we have,” the former Arsenal and Chelsea star admitted.
“I liked the Premier League, but at some point, I had to make a decision. I told Tuchel that the last three months had been too difficult.
“It was an obvious choice to leave Chelsea, I moved on with great emotion for all the moments we lived. Some were good, some others not as much, but we won three important titles.”
Mikel Arteta makes one change to the side that started at Turf Moor eight days ago.
The Arsenal coach welcomes back Granit Xhaka after a three-match suspension as the Swiss midfielder replaces Nicholas Pepe.
It’s likely to trigger a slight change in setup with Xhaka likely to play alongside Thomas Partey, the one survivor from the midweek win over Wimbledon in the Carabao Cup.
It now looks like a 4-2-3-1 shape for the Gunners with Bukayo Saka, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe playing behind captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Arsenal goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale, and two of the Gunners’ back four in Takehiro Tomyasu and Ben White are set to face Tottenham for the first time since moving to the Emirates.
Meanwhile, Spurs youngster Japhet Tanganga will make his first appearance in the North London derby, having been an unused substitute for the clubs’ clash at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last term.
It’s three changes for Spurs and Nuno Espirito Santo after defeat to Chelsea a week ago.
Two come in defence where Japhet Tanganga and Davinson Sanchez are favoured over the benched pair of Emerson Royal and Cristian Romero while Lucas Moura is back from injury and is selected ahead of Giovani Lo Celso.
It’s the same midfield trio of Tanguy Ndombele, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Dele Alli for the visitors, who will again line-up in a 4-3-3 shape.
Replaced Kepa after returning for injury and in the first-half was very commanding from corner kicks.
Rooted to the spot for Jesus’ opener after a wicked deflection took it past Chelsea’s No1, who made some big saves afterwards.
Reece James – 5 Frustrating afternoon for the England international, who came off injured on 29 minutes and was replaced by Thiago Silva.
Heading into Chelsea’s Champions League trip to Juventus on Wednesday, James joins Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic as a doubt.
Cesar Azpilicueta – 5 Shifted to wing-back after James’ injury, the Spaniard was not able to get forward as much as he would have liked, with Grealish down City’s left.
Chelsea could have done with James’ attacking presence especially with the runs Werner was making but with no support.
Andreas Christensen – 7 Had the trouble of marking Jack Grealish and did a good job staying tight to the Three Lions’ fan-favourite, who craves space to work with.
Another good performance by the academy graduate, who is becoming increasingly better with the ball at his feet.
Antonio Rudiger – 6 Played left of the back three so spent most of his time tracking and keeping tabs on Jesus, especially when the Brazilian sneaked in behind.
Rushed in at times towards the end as Chelsea chased a goal but was well supported by Silva.
Marcos Alonso – 4 One to forget for the Spaniard who was caught in possession a few times early on and it took 55 minutes for his first meaningful cross.
Despite a good start to the season, Ben Chilwell would have watched from the bench with confidence his place on the left is not all lost.
N’Golo Kante – 6 It was shades of Maurizio Sarri’s reign and Frank Lampard’s early start as Chelsea boss for Kante, who played right of a midfield three.
The Frenchman was coming into life in the second half before he was brought off for Kai Havertz, to give a more attacking edge.
Jorginho – 6 Could not do much to prevent Jesus from swivelling and getting his shot off to put City in the lead, after a deflection put it past Mendy.
Acted as the deep-lying midfielder but was not given the time and space he likes to pick out passes and was often camped back helping his defenders.
Mateo Kovacic – 6 Golden chance to put either Werner or Havertz through on the 68th minute but his left-footed pass was just intercepted despite his urgency to break.
Full of energy but missed the final ball to really put Chelsea away which summed up Chelsea’s frustrations.
Timo Werner – 5 The German was very active on the left wing and often got in behind but lacked the confidence on the ball to really skip past or beat City defenders.
Werner never stopped making himself available on the flanks but failed to produce and often slowed the attack down before offloading the ball.
Romelu Lukaku – 5 Struggled in parts as he found himself isolated down the middle with Werner drifting out wide and no midfielder in an advanced role.
Clear Lukaku will profit more with two attackers either side of him opposed to Werner as a partner with the forward often left with little support.
SUBS Thiago Silva (on for James) – 7 Super block off the line on the hour mark as Mendy tipped it out but only to the feet of Jesus, whose effort was cleared by the veteran defender.
Kai Havertz (on for Kante) – 6 The German, who scored Chelsea’s winner against City in the Champions League final, will feel he should have started, and his bright performance from the left means he could return against Juve.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek (on for Jorginho) – 7 The playmaker was an immediate impact and had plenty of pace and power from midfield, trying to carry Chelsea up field and made his mark as a contender in Chelsea’s midfield.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel singled out Ruben Loftus-Cheek for his performance in the Blues first defeat in the Premier League this season.
Gabriel Jesus’ second half goal handed the Manchester City all the three points in the clash at Stamford Bridge, with the match ending in 1-0 in favour of the visitors.
Loftus-Cheek, meanwhile, was brought on as a second-half substitute as Chelsea pushed for an equaliser.
And the 25-year-old, who was expected to leave Stamford Bridge during the summer transfer window, delivered an encouraging performance at the heart of Chelsea’s midfield.
When asked what his plan was for Loftus-Cheek after Chelsea’s defeat to City, Tuchel told Stadium Astro: “He decides what the plans are.
“He got minutes against Zenit, in the [Carabao] Cup, and now here [against Manchester City].
“He’s a different type of player. He’s not a passing player, he’s a dribbler, a runner who drives the ball. This could be very helpful against City.
A very frustrated Thomas Tuchel has pinpointed where his team went wrong, stating that his players were ‘too fearful’ against Manchester City at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
Chelsea surrendered all the three points at stake to the Pep Guardiola-tutored side.
The west London club could not match the Premier League champions, without any single shot on target for the duration of the match.
Tuchel said: “We changed formation a little bit at half time that should help us have a bit closer of a connection in passing and maybe be a bit more active for high pressing.
“But in general it’s not a question of formation, it’s a question of being active and of principles – how to defend and where to defend.
“It is also about individual performance. You have to escape pressure individually, you have to be sharp with your first touch, to escape and switch play. We lacked quality today, individually. It’s as simple as that.
“Also in the belief and in general and the movement, we were too static and it was too fearful.”
