In January 2022, a devastating ACL injury put Federico Chiesa’s career on hold. The winger underwent surgery followed by a long recovery path.

Last October, the Juventus star finally made his return to the pitch in a Champions League contest against Paris Saint-Germain. Since then, he has been gradually regaining his optimal physical condition, although some minor concerns have derailed his momentum.

Just recently, Amazon released a docu-series shedding some light on the player’s recovery path.

Chiesa gives credit to his family for giving him the strength to overcome all obstacles. He also thanks his teammates who were by his side during his darkest hour.

“My family, my parents and my girlfriend made all the difference in those moments to get me out of a difficult moment in my career,” said the Azzurri star as reported by la Gazzetta dello Sport.

“My mom and dad have always seen me on the pitch, not on crutches. These are different emotions. My father broke his patellar tendon both in both legs, so they had already been through it. When I was injured they were the first to give me strength.

“I’ve seen Chris Smalling’s challenge several times, and it wasn’t a nasty one. His intent was to get the ball.

“My mum told me: ‘Football is a contact sport, it happens’. I saw my former teammate, Rodrigo Bentancur, breaking the crusader by himself.

“Chiellini, Bonucci and my other teammates like De Ligt, Vlahovic, have been close to me.

“But as Giorgio has always told me, every rehabilitation is different. He didn’t have any problems, perhaps a little at the beginning, but in my case , it didn’t go very well at the beginning and then it took me a while to get back to the pitch.”

Chiesa revealed that Milan legend Kaka was his childhood idol. He also cherishes his jersey swap with Kylian Mbappé whom he considers as the best of the current generation.

“As a child, my idol has always been Kakà, now the player I like to watch the most is Mbappé.

“I actually framed his jersey on the wall. He’s really strong, an absolute champion. He’s so fast, he can easily reach the ball and a has quick footwork that you only see in very few players.

“Then in terms of goalscoring, he’s very strong. Someone who scores a hat-trick in the World Cup final at the age 23 can only be an exceptional champion.”