Udinese stun toothless Juve in Serie A
Juventus are seemingly out of the race for the Serie A title, as they sank to a shock 1-0 home defeat to Udinese.
Juventus defender Merih Demiral underwent a successful surgery of his left knee which got hurt after landing awkwardly during Juventus’ 2-1 win over Roma on Sunday. The 21-year-old will be sidelined for at least six to seven months.
“Earlier this evening (Tuesday), Merih Demiral underwent reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament and suture of the lateral meniscus of the left knee,” the club said in a statement on Tuesday.
“The surgery, performed at the Hochrum clinic in Innsbruck by Professor Christian Fink, in the presence of Juventus’ Dr. Tzouroudis, was perfectly successful.
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“The time required for an optimal recovery is 6-7 months,” it added.
Demiral scored the opener in Juventus’ 2-1 away victory over Roma, but the defender later limped off and was replaced by Matthijs de Ligt in the 19th minute.
On Sunday, Cristiano Ronaldo and Demiral had scored goals as Juventus edged past Roma. Meanwhile, the win also saw Juve retaining the number 1 spot in Italy’s top-flight competition.
Within three minutes of the starting of the match, Juventus drew the first blood courtesy Demiral. Paulo Dybala delivered in a free-kick into the box which met Demiral at the far post, who tapped the ball into the back of the net from close range to make it 1-0.
Star striker Ronaldo then doubled the lead in the 10th minute after the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Dybala inside the box. Ronaldo took the spot-kick sending Roma shot-stopper Pau Lopez in the wrong direction and making the scoreline 2-0.
However, in the second half, Roma bounced back in the match with the goal of Diego Perotti, but failed to find an equaliser till the final whistle and Juventus bagged the much-needed 3 points to lead the league table, surpassing Inter Milan.
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