Emre Can, Federico Bernardeschi are close to returning to the fold

Thankfully, Juventus aren’t dealing with many injuries these days. Of the names that are on the injury list, they are usually the same ones over the past month or so, with the midfield being hit the hardest out of any position. (And it’s not like there was a little of depth there to begin with, folks.)

Federico Bernardeschi and Emre Can have been two of those names that have been on the injury list pretty much all of November. Neither player has appeared in a game since mid- or late-October, and their respective absences have been felt in one way another considering both were playing quite well at the time they got injured.

But don’t fret, friends. It looks like both Bernardeschi and Can are closing in on a return to the field — which would be a welcome sight for a Juventus squad that has a busy, busy month of December with seven games on the schedule before the January break arrives.

Here is the recap of Wednesday’s training session from juventus.com:

The players that started the match yesterday underwent a recovery session, whilst the rest went through an intense workout on the field, with a lot of ball work.

Federico Bernardeschi took part in the whole session with the team, and Emre Can was back, albeit for partial training.

However, Alex Sandro will be evaluated in the coming days for a muscle problem picked up yesterday in the match against Valencia.

OK, we could probably figure out that Alex Sandro wasn’t going to be a part of Wednesday’s training session based on the fact that he was subbed off at halftime we said muscle problem. Knowing that this big chunk of games in December will be crucial on multiple fronts, getting Sandro back to full health will be something to monitor once that aforementioned evaluation period comes to an end.

But when you look at the squad that Max Allegri called up for the Valencia game Tuesday night, what jumped off the page the most? If it was anything other than the fact that there were just three midfielders available — and all of them started the game, by the way — then there’s something to reconsider. That’s where the absence of Can has been most felt. Maybe Rodrigo Bentancur doesn’t get as much playing time as he has the last six or eight weeks if Can doesn’t have to undergo thyroid nodule surgery. But the fact that Juve’s midfield depth has been barebones has been an issue — and the return of Can (and to a lesser extent Sami Khedira) will help ease some of that pressure.