Juventus striker Álvaro Morata to miss 30 days with left calf injury

Juventus has seen two important defenders get hurt during this preseason. Then came the news that Sami Khedira was going to miss two months with a hamstring strain. So, naturally, the injury bug has made its way to Juventus' strikers.

Namely, one of two strikers who were actually a member of the Juve roster last season.

For the second consecutive preseason, Álvaro Morata is being forced to deal with an injury that will see him miss a significant amount of time. Instead of it being a Rubinho-caused knee injury that took place within hours of him training with Juventus for the first time, Morata will miss the next 30 days after complaining of pain in his left calf during training on Tuesday and then being diagnosed with a torn muscle in said left calf muscle.

First, we had this update on Juventus' website that made us all nervous as hell...

Proceedings kicked off in the hotel gym before the team moved out to their nearby Century Park training complex, where sprints and quick changes in direction were performed under the watchful of eye of Massimiliano Allegri and his backroom staff.

Missing out on the session was Alvaro Morata, who is to undergo medical examinations after reporting discomfort in his left calf during yesterday's workout.

Then, we had this update on Juventus' website that made us all angry as hell...

Alvaro Morata will be sidelined for up to 30 days after suffering a torn soleus muscle in his left calf during yesterday evening's training session.

Having departed the workout early, the striker underwent tests today in Shanghai to reveal the full extent of the damage.

So, just to recap: In the past week, Giorgio Chiellini has been ruled out 20 days with a thigh injury, Sami Khedira has been ruled out for two months with a hamstring injury and now Morata will miss the next month or so with a left calf injury.

That's not what I call a group of happy preseason developments. Not even close to it.

With the 30-day timetable announced by Juventus, Morata will miss the first two Serie A fixtures this season, including the much-hyped showdown with Roma at the Olimpico on Aug. 30. Thankfully with the way the league schedule is setup this season, if Morata recovers in the time that Juve says he will miss, those first two games are right before the first international break of the season, meaning Morata will have two weeks to work his way back into the fold before Juve play again on Sept. 13.

The one bright side in all of this stupid injury news: At least we know now that it will be a Paulo Dybala-Mario Mandzukic partnership up front against Lazio on Saturday in the Italian Super Cup. So we've got that out of the way, which is nice.