Giorgio Chiellini is out of the Champions League final against Barcelona on Saturday with a calf injury.
The centre-back pulled up in training dealing a blow to Juventus chances of thwarting Barça’s attacking trio of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suárez.
Chiellini had a scan on the injury on Thursday and was ruled out of the game. Juve said on their website: “The scan revealed a first grade tear of the soleus muscle in his left leg, meaning the defender will miss Saturday’s final with Barcelona.”
Chiellini is now unable to line up against Suárez for the first time since the Uruguay international was banned for four months for biting him at the World Cup finals in Brazil last year.
Chiellini had said the incident was in the past and he would have no problem in shaking Suárez’s hand beforehand.
Suárez’s four-month ban expired at the end of October and since then he has hit top form, helping fire Barça to the verge of a treble of Champions League and Spanish league and Cup titles.
Angelo Ogbonna seems the likely candidate to replace Chiellini, despite Andrea Barzagli returning to training after recovering from a thigh injury sustained earlier this month.
Juve are also chasing a treble, having, like Barça, already won the domestic league and cup this term.
The Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said: “Barcelona is not like any other team. You need great patience and mental strength.
“To man-mark Messi is almost impossible, we just need to do a good job and work around him. But besides limiting Messi, Barça have Neymar and Luis Suárez.
“They have so many technical players that we will need to play a game with a lot of courage, knowing that we will have difficult times during the match and moments where we will have opportunities.
“We are going to Berlin not waiting for them to score against us and be the victims.”
