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If you have been in a sad mood the last 48 hours or so, I don't blame you. Claudio Marchisio is as much of Juventus as anybody on the roster. We've seen him grow up from prospect to starter to team leader. So, to see him suffering as serious a knee injury as there is doesn't exactly send a bunch of warm and fuzzy feelings through your body.
On Tuesday morning, Marchisio officially began has road to recovery.
Juventus announced shortly after midday in Italy that Marchisio successfully underwent knee surgery on his left knee after suffering a torn ACL in the first half of Sunday's 4-0 win over Palermo. Here's the official statement regarding Marchisio's trip to the doctor on Tuesday:
Claudio Marchisio this morning underwent reconstructive surgery on the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The operation, performed by Professor Flavio Quaglia at Turin's Fornaca di Sessant Clinic, was 100 per cent successful. The midfielder is expected to return to competitive action in approximately six months' time.
You will notice that unlike the previous medical update is that we actually have a timetable for Marchisio's return. Last time around it was basically just "he will miss the remainder of the season" to now putting the goal of returning to the field around the early stages of the 2016-17 season. It's something that Max Allegri mentioned at his pre-match press conference just a few short minutes before the announcement of Marchisio's surgery being a success.
.@OfficialAllegri: "@ClaMarchisio8 will be looking to rejoin us in training around September time." #JuveLazio
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 19, 2016
Based on the timetable they have laid out here, the early stages of next season sounds about right. Let's just hope it all goes according to plan now. Lord knows the plan wasn't for Marchisio to ever have to deal with something like this in the first place.