(Reuters) – Juventus could be without Angel Di Maria and Federico Chiesa for Sunday’s Serie A match at Inter Milan as the Turin club battles a growing injury list, manager Massimiliano Allegri said.
Both have struggled with injuries this season and Allegri said on Saturday they could join Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Arkadiusz Milik and Paul Pogba as injury absentees.
Moise Kean is also suspended after he was sent off in their 1-0 loss against AS Roma earlier this month.
“They could both be out, I don’t know, we’ll see after training. We don’t have options up front without Kean and Milik, we have (Matias) Soule but only (Dusan) Vlahovic as a starting striker,” Allegri said.
He confirmed that Pogba, who has only played 35 minutes for Juve this season due to different injuries, will be out for the foreseeable future after suffering a thigh injury last week.
“We’ve been saying the same things for eight months. When he’s doing well … he’ll be available, I doubt he’ll be available immediately after the (international) break, it’ll take a little more time,” Allegri said.
Juve, who had 15 points deducted by an Italian soccer court investigating the club’s transfer dealings, will need a win to stay in the hunt for a top-six finish and a European qualification spot.
Allegri’s side are seventh in the league with 38 points, seven behind sixth-placed Atalanta, who earned a late 2-1 victory against Empoli on Friday. Inter are second on 50 points.
“It’s important and difficult in Milan because six-pointers are always difficult to play,” Allegri added.
“It’s a wonderful match in front of 70,000 spectators, it’s the Derby d’Italia and it will be a fascinating match. We will have to be very good.”
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; Editing by Toby Davis)
