Ahead of any major final, the last news any football manager wants to hear is that one of his key players could be unavailable through injury. Yet that is the reality that is now facing Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri.
The Juventus boss is currently planning ahead for the remaining games of the Serie A season, including tomorrow's top of the table clash with Roma, as well as the Coppa Italia and Champions League finals.
And he is now having to make those plans without Sami Khedira.
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The German midfielder limped out of Tuesday's Champions League semi-final second leg with Monaco after just 10 minutes with a hamstring problem, which it is now confirmed will keep him out of next week's Coppa final with Lazio.
Khedira leaves the field injured after just 10 minutes of the Champions League semi-final against Monaco. Image: PA
More worryingly for Juve, there's also a very real possibility that the injury won't have healed in time for the Champions League final against Khedira's old club, Real Madrid, on 3rd June.
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Khedira has insisted after the Monaco game that the injury was 'nothing serious' although Allegri's words paint a very different picture.
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Speaking at a news conference, the Bianconeri manager said, "Seeing Khedira in the Coppa Italia final or against Crotone next week is impossible.
"We'll evaluate him day by day to see about the Champions League final."
Khedira has been a rock in Juve's midfield since he arrived in Turin two years ago. He has made 44 appearances in all competitions, this season, scoring five goals.
Khedira has become one of Max Allegri's most important players over the past two seasons. Images: PA
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The former Real Madrid midfielder will be doing everything he can to recover in time for the showdown with his old club, in Cardiff at the beginning of June, having already suffered one major final heartbreak in his career, when he broke down in the pre-match warm up ahead of Germany's victorious 2014 World Cup final against Argentina, being replaced by Christoph Kramer.
(H/T Goal)
Topics: Football, Sami Khedira, Juventus
