The well of misfortune at the Continassa has no bottom. Twenty-four hours after the Atalanta victory that sent Juventus into the international break with ten points and renewed optimism, the squad’s medical bulletin delivers one more entry in a list that is already among the most extraordinary in the club’s recent history. Randal Kolo Muani has fractured a finger on his hand and will undergo a minor surgical procedure today.
The good news — and for once there is some — is that the injury is entirely manageable during the three-week break. The international pause provides precisely the recovery window such a procedure requires, and Tuttosport’s Paolo Pirisi confirms that no significant concern is filtering from the Continassa. Kolo Muani is expected to be available for the away match at Cagliari on 11 October, barring any unforeseen complications in recovery.
The Fifth Operation Since 31 August
From Grabara’s devastating cruciate rupture on Friday — a season-ending diagnosis that arrived just 24 hours after his debut — to Kolo Muani’s fractured finger on Monday, Juventus have now had five players require surgical procedures since the competitive season began on 23 August.
The roll call is one for the club’s medical history books: Yıldız, whose fractured fifth metatarsal was operated on in Augsburg in September; Thuram, whose knee chondroplasty was performed in Lyon by Sonnery-Cottet; Locatelli, whose meniscus suture at the same Lyon clinic will keep him sidelined until at least January; Grabara, whose anterior cruciate ligament rupture has ended his season before it began; and now Kolo Muani — the fifth name on a list that no club’s medical department would ever wish to compile.
The additional names of Cambiaso, Ekhator, Boga, and Cabal — all managing shorter-term muscular and joint problems — complete a picture of an injury crisis whose statistical improbability has long since ceased to provide any meaningful comfort to those navigating it on a daily basis. The international break could not have arrived at a more necessary moment. Three weeks to breathe, recover, and reassemble as many pieces as possible before the competitive calendar resumes. The season, despite everything, has given Juventus ten points, a Europa League victory, and a squad beginning to find its identity. The injury list tests every limit. The results, so far, have refused to be defined by it.
