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Football

18th Feb 2018

Juventus suffer double injury blow before Champions League clash with Spurs

They could both miss the return leg against Tottenham

Reuben Pinder

This could give Tottenham a huge boost.

Juventus won the Turin derby against local rivals Torino this afternoon thanks to a 33rd minute strike from Alex Sandro.

It was Walter Mazzari’s first defeat as Torino boss and kept Juventus just one point behind Napoli, who lead Serie A on 66 points.

Another positive for Juve was the return of Paulo Dybala, who missed last week’s Champions League clash with Spurs through injury. However, Juve fans will be worried about injuries sustained by Gonzalo Higuaín and Federico Bernadeschi during the match.

Higuaín hobbled off after fifteen minutes after picking up an ankle injury, while Federico Bernadeschi, who replaced Higuaín from the bench, looked to hyper-extend his knee.

Both players who suffered injuries in Sunday afternoon’s Turin derby started the Round of 16 first leg against Tottenham but could miss the return leg at Wembley.

Juventus are also without Blaise Matuidi at the moment, after he picked up a muscle injury during Juve’s 7-0 thrashing of Sassuolo on February 4th.

Mario Mandžukić may move into a more central attacking role, but Juve will still miss Higuaín if he is unable to play.

One of Claudio Marchisio or Stefano Sturaro may have to play in midfield at Wembley and after watching Mousa Dembélé’s man of the match performance in Turin, they will be well aware of the task that lies ahead.

Spurs, meanwhile, have no injuries in their first team squad. They made full use of that squad depth today, as Mauricio Pochettino made 11 changes to his line up for their FA Cup tie against Rochdale, which they drew 2-2 after late drama.