Andrea Barzagli injury: Juventus defender listed as 'day-to-day' after right thigh injury

We played the waiting game for Andrea Barzagli's medical test results to come in. Now we play the waiting when it comes to Barzagli being available for the Champions League final in less than two weeks' time.

Fun, fun, fun.

Juventus have announced their stalwart defender is listed as 'day-to-day' after suffering a first-grade tear in his right quadricep. Because of the injury, Barzagli — who made his return from a long injury layoff back in early back — had to be replaced at the beginning of the second half by Leonardo Bonucci in Juventus' win over Napoli this past weekend.

Here's the official word, courtesy of Juventus' website:

After leaving the pitch due to muscle discomfort at half-time of Saturday's 3-1 triumph over Napoli, Andrea Barzagli this morning underwent an MRI scan.

The medical examination showed that the defender has suffered a first grade tear of the rectus femoris muscle in his right thigh.

Barzagli will now begin treatment and both his condition and availability for June's Champions League final are to be monitored on a day-to-day basis.

Now, as we've come to realize with the Juventus medical team's evaluations on things this season, being day-to-day could actually mean that, or he could be out for a couple of weeks. Barzagli's status for the Serie A finale this weekend against Hellas Verona doesn't matter at all, so go ahead and throw one last domestic appearance this season right

All that matters, like the last sentence of the Juventus website post says, is whether or not Barzagli will be available for the Champions League final against Barcelona on June 6. That's it. Nothing more, just the Champions League final.

If Barzagli misses out, it will be a huge blow even if Max Allegri doesn't plan on starting the game with a 3-5-2 formation. We've come to see that Barzagli can be a valuable part of the equation off the bench — especially when Juventus are winning and Allegri wants to lockdown the lead in the second half. And we know Barcelona are going to be coming at Juve with the best trident the world of football has to offer, so having one of your best defenders available will be huge.

All of this is dependent on Barzagli being healthy. We're counting down the days until the Champions League final. The waiting game isn't fun, but it's the only thing we can do now. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...