Sunday 17 August, 2008
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There is terrible news for Juventus and Italy, as Giorgio Chiellini was stretchered off during tonight's Trofeo Berlusconi.
The defender collided with Milan striker Alberto Paloschi and appeared to sprain his left knee in the move.
Chiellini was almost in tears as he was carried off by medical staff and then placed on a stretcher to go for hospital tests.
There are fears the sprain could be serious enough to warrant a long lay-off, possibly at least a month.
To make matters worse, he suffered a similar setback in January and was out of action for four weeks.
This definitely means Chiellini will not be able to play for Italy in Wednesday's international friendly against Austria.
Marcello Lippi will need to call an extra defender for his first match since returning to the Azzurri bench.
It remains to be seen whether Chiellini will be fit enough for the second leg of Juventus' Champions League preliminary round clash with Artmedia Bratislava in a fortnight, although they are confident of qualification following a 4-0 win.