Juventus Faces Injury Crisis as Locatelli and Boga Sidelined
Juventus rocked as Locatelli faces long lay-off and Boga joins injury list
The lights were barely out at Allianz Stadium after Sunday’s draw with Milan when the bad news started to roll in. Now it’s official: Juventus’ injury crisis has gone from worrying to brutal.
Manuel Locatelli has undergone knee surgery and is expected to be sidelined for several months, while Jeremie Boga has been ruled out with a thigh injury that will keep him away from action for several weeks.
Locatelli blow turns concern into crisis
Locatelli’s injury always looked serious when he limped away from the 1-1 draw with Milan, a match in which he had gone toe-to-toe in midfield with Luka Modric. The confirmation arrived on Monday: a meniscus tear in his right knee, and a long road back.
Juventus announced that the midfielder travelled to Lyon, where specialists performed surgery to suture the external meniscus. The club did not put an official date on his return, but the indications are bleak.
Sky Sport Italia reported that Locatelli could be out for five to six months. If that timeline holds, Juventus may not see him back in competitive action until 2027. For a player who anchors their midfield, that is not just a setback. It is a structural problem.
This comes on top of a list that already looked like a pre-season casualty sheet rather than an autumn availability report. Kenan Yildiz, Khephren Thuram, Weston McKennie, Jeff Ekhator, Juan Cabal, Andrea Cambiaso and Pape Matar Sarr all missed the clash with Milan. Now the one constant, the metronome in front of the defence, has been removed as well.
The timing could hardly be worse. Locatelli’s role in dictating tempo, screening the back line and knitting together phases of play has made him one of the first names on the teamsheet. Take that out of a side already patched together, and the tactical knock-on effects are immediate and severe.
Boga sidelined as options shrink further
Just as the focus fell on Locatelli’s knee, another problem flared up higher up the pitch.
Jeremie Boga, who had been offering Juventus valuable unpredictability in the final third, has been diagnosed with a medium-grade lesion to the femoral bicep in his left thigh. It is the kind of muscular injury that punishes explosive players most, and the club will not take risks.
The medical staff have set a cautious plan. Boga will undergo new tests in two weeks’ time to assess how the muscle is responding. Until then, there is no prospect of a return. The initial expectation is that he will be out for at least a month, with a likely absence of around five weeks.
That rules him out of a crucial stretch in the calendar and strips more pace and direct running from a squad already forced into improvisation.
A squad stretched to its limits
Individually, each of these injuries would hurt. Taken together, they reshape the season.
Juventus are now staring at a long spell without their midfield organiser and one of their most dangerous dribblers, on top of a growing casualty list that already forced changes against Milan. Rotations become gambles. Tactical tweaks become necessities.
The medical bulletin from Turin reads like a warning: the margin for error has gone. How Juventus navigate the coming weeks, and how they survive the months without Locatelli, may define where this campaign ultimately ends.
