Paulo Dybala to miss 15-20 days after suffering knee injury vs. Sassuolo

As Juventus gets one striker back from injury, another one is going to miss at least a couple of weeks due to injury.

Watching Paulo Dybala slowly make his way into J Medical — and Monday turned out to be quite the busy day at Juve’s health and fitness hub right outside Allianz Stadium — you knew something was up. A couple of hours later, Juventus officially announced that Dybala, who had to be subbed out late in the first half of Sunday’s 3-1 win over Sassuolo, had suffered “a low-grade lesion of the medial collateral ligament of the left knee” and is set to most of the remaining January fixtures due to a two- to three-week recovery time.

Two other players who appeared on the J Medical list for a Monday visit, Weston McKennie and Federico Chiesa, are listed as “day-to-day” after their respective checks. McKennie, who also had to be subbed off in the first half on Sunday night and was already was playing with a slight muscle injury from the day before, was much more lively as he departed J Medical. (If we wanted hints on who felt better during their visit, then it’s definitely McKennie.)

All the information, courtesy of Juventus’ official website:

Meanwhile, Paulo Dybala underwent diagnostic tests at J|Medical this morning, which revealed a low-grade lesion of the medial collateral ligament of the left knee with a recovery time of approximately 15/20 days.

The exams to which Weston McKennie and Federico Chiesa have been subjected to have instead ruled out injuries and therefore their conditions will be evaluated day by day.

With the timetable set out for Dybala’s recovery time, he is set to miss the following games:

• Jan. 13 vs. Genoa (Coppa Italia)
• Jan. 16 vs. Inter Milan
• Jan. 20 vs. Napoli (Supercoppa)
• Jan. 24 vs. Bologna

If it’s closer to 20 days (or more than that), then you’re looking at Dybala being out for the start ritorno against Sampdoria at the end of the month on Jan. 30.

Right as we hit the meat of the January schedule and there’s no slowing down of the schedule for at least a couple of weeks, simply missing Dybala because he’s another body out there to rotate in as Alvaro Morata gets full match fitness back is a tough pill to swallow for Andrea Pirlo. But add into the fact that Dybala was starting to slowly work his way out of his early-season slump and seeing him suddenly have to hit pause is so disappointing.

Get well soon, Paulo. We need you back as soon as possible.