During Sunday’s big showdown in Rome, Juventus manager Max Allegri made a halftime change, replacing Alex Sandro with club captain Leonardo Bonucci, prompting fears over a potential injury.
But according to La Gazzetta dello Sport via JuventusNews24, the defender underwent medical tests on Monday, and the results ruled out injury concerns.
Nonetheless, the 32-year-old has suffered from a strain on his adductor. Hence, he risks missing out on the club’s upcoming fixture which happens to be the first leg of the Europa League round of 16.
The source thus expects Allegri to leave Sandro out of the formation that will host Freiburg on Thursday as a precautionary measure.
This would effectively grant Bonucci his first starting berth of the year. The returning captain has recently made his comeback to the field following a long layoff, but has only been collecting second-half cameos.
Juve FC say
While Sandro isn’t everyone’s cup of tea at the moment, he remains an important figure in Allegri’s tactical scheme. After all, he’s the only left-footed defender in the current squad.
So with the Brazilian veteran potentially out of the European fixture, his compatriot Danilo will probably feature on the left of the defensive trio, which isn’t exactly his preferred position.
