Italy will be without injured Arsenal
defender Riccardo Calafiori as it tries to overturn a 2-1
Nations League quarter-final deficit against Germany in Dortmund
Sunday but Napoli centre back Alessandro Buongiorno is warming
up to step in, coach Luciano Spalletti said a day after the San
Siro defeat Friday.
Former Bologna centre back Calafiori, 22, is unable to make it,
after the slide with a strange twisting of his left knee at the
end of the match at San Siro against the Germans, and has
withdrawn.
"Subjected in the late morning to instrumental tests for the
sprain-contusion trauma to his left knee - the FIGC said - he
was deemed unavailable for the return leg scheduled for Sunday
and will return to his club for assessments".
The injury is not expected to be serious but in London Calafiori
will rely on the Arsenal medical staff, but initial hypotheses
suggest it would be a lesion of the left collateral between the
first and second degree and he should be out for a few weeks.
The next few days will clarify the precise recovery times but
given the bad movement on the pitch, the worst seems to have
been averted. Of course, Spalletti won't be able to rely on him
in Dortmund.
The coach will probably replace him with Buongiorno, lined up in
defense with clubmate Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Inter centre back
Alessandro Bastoni.
The defensive line will have to pay more attention to set
pieces, the real Achilles heel of Spalletti's Azzurri.
There are other players to evaluate.
Matteo Politano expressed some difficulty with his physical
condition yesterday.
Andrea Cambiaso, as Spalletti explained, has made significant
progress.
"We had targeted the second match, we think the next two days
will be crucial. And if he continues with the progress he will
have the chance to play". These are the last hours of evaluation
for Spalletti who will then have to decide on the most reliable
eleven to overturn the defeat suffered yesterday in the first
leg in a stadium that is a fortress for Germany.
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