Maurizio Sarri to miss Juventus’ first two games of the season due to pneumonia

Maurizio Sarri’s Juventus team with Maurizio Sarri’s style of play will make its debut against Parma on Saturday. It’s just that Maurizio Sarri won’t actually be there to coach them.

Juventus announced Thursday that their first-year manager will miss the first two games of the 2019-20 season — away at Parma this Saturday and home to his former side Napoli next weekend — due to his continued case of pneumonia. With the season’s first international break set for after the Napoli fixture on Saturday, Aug. 31, Sarri will have around a month to try and get back to full health before he’s expected to coach again. (Juventus’ first fixture after the international break is on Sept. 15 against Fiorentina.)

The official statement from Juventus regarding Sarri’s health:

Maurizio Sarri underwent further medical tests today, which showed a good clinical improvement. To completely recover from the pneumonia that hit him over the course of the past few days, the coach will not sit on the bench for the first two Serie A matches against Parma and Napoli. The decision was taken to allow the technician, who even today went to the JTC to coordinate work with his staff, to resume regular activity as soon as possible.

So, this is the place where you insert your cracks about Sarri maaaaaybe cutting down on how many cigarettes he consumes on a daily basis. His constant need for a heater is something that he’s already discussed since taking over as Juventus’ manager. It’s not that he just spent time with his dog over the summer, it’s the fact that he said he smoked 60 — YES, SIXTY! — cigarettes a day, admitting that it’s “yes, a little too much” but proposed the question of “How can you not smoke (on the beach)?”

Not sure how many cigarettes will be consumed during Sarri’s beach time now.