You may feel like we were just in this same situation. It's mainly because we were. That's just the nature of the beast the last couple of months — or seasons — when it comes Giorgio Chiellini thinking he's healthy then seemingly getting hurt in his first game or two back on the field.
Chiellini was forced out in the first half of Juventus' 2-0 win over Inter Milan in the Derby d'Italia on Sunday, and missed training the next day on Monday, so we knew something was up even though it was Chiellini's first game back from injury. Tuesday, we found out what it was and how long Chiellini will be out this time. From Juventus' official website:
Giorgio Chiellini will not be available for the San Siro clash. Having exited the field of play during the first half of Juventus' league win over the Nerazzurri on Sunday evening, the defender underwent tests today, which ruled out any muscle tear, instead revealing an overload of the soleus muscle in his right calf. Chiellini is due to return to action in approximately ten days.
At his pre-match press conference, Juventus manager Max Allegri insisted that Chiellini was healthy to play against Inter on Sunday. If you recall, it was in early February where this exact same kind of situation happened where Chiellini's health was deemed good to go, he returned to the starting lineup and then subsequently missed a couple weeks after re-aggravating his calf injury.
Now, the 10-day timetable is a lot better than the three-week diagnosis Chiellini got the last time around. And if we go by simple facts in front of us that say Chiellini will be out 10 days and today is the first day of March, then his status for the second leg against Bayern Munich on March 16 won't be an issue. Of course, things can happen, and with Chiellini's injury susceptibility over the last six weeks anything is possible. But, if we're concerned about Chiellini potentially missing the trip to Bavaria, then the timetable the Juventus doctors have laid out should ease our fears a little bit.
Let's just hope he's actually 100 percent healthy when he comes back. The last thing we need to see is Allegri burning another first-half sub in a big game because Chiellini just felt his calf go twang again.