Rugani sidelined: Juve brace for a six-game stretch as their season unravels

Rugani’s injury update and likely six-game absence

Juventus confirmed on Wednesday the details of defender Daniele Rugani’s injury, sustained during yesterday’s team training session.

Juventus said in an official statement on its social channels that after suffering a muscle injury during Tuesday's training, Rugani underwent radiological tests at J Medical early this morning.

The statement added that the scans revealed a mild strain in the soleus muscle in his right leg.

According to Football Italia, while Rugani's injury isn't the most severe in the squad, healing from this type of issue usually takes at least three weeks.

Juventus is already bracing for a potentially longer spell out, depending on how the muscle responds.

Rugani is expected to miss all remaining Juventus matches in November, and also the opening fixtures in December.

Additionally, Football Italia reports that the defender's spell could extend to six matches for the Bianconeri in the near future.

A volatile Juventus season despite a bright start

Juventus began the season with three straight wins over Parma (2-0), Genoa (1-0) and a dramatic derby win against Inter Milan (4-3).

But form soon dipped with three consecutive draws against Verona, Atalanta and Milan, followed by losses to Como and Lazio.

After the dismissal of Tudor, the club steadied briefly with back-to-back wins over Udinese (3-1) and Cremonese (2-1) under new coach Luciano Spalletti, who took charge hoping to rescue the campaign, before a draw with Torino.

In the Champions League, Juventus failed to win in four group-stage matches, drawing with Dortmund (4-4), Villarreal (2-2), Sporting Lisbon (1-1) and losing to Real Madrid.

Across all competitions, Juventus had played 11 Serie A games, winning five, drawing four and losing two, scoring 14 and conceding 10, sitting sixth with 19 points, five behind leaders Inter and Roma.

In Europe, they sat 26th in the continental ranking, far from knockouts for now.

As Spalletti seeks to steady the ship, the club also hopes negotiations with a former coach at Wolverhampton could help financially, a move that may look small on paper but could carry big off-field implications.

Thiago Motta: a promising start and a disappointing ending

Thiago Motta took the Juventus job in summer 2024 after a successful spell at Bologna, where he offered attacking football and put the club back on the map. But the project in Turin did not go as hoped.

Despite a balanced start, the team under Motta showed inconsistencies and unstable results, leading the club to dismiss him in March 2025, a little over a year into the job.

In his 42 matches across all competitions, Juventus recorded 18 wins, 16 draws and 8 losses, with 65 goals scored and 46 conceded. His attempts to impose his attacking philosophy failed to take root in the locker room, and the side also failed to avoid exits from the Champions League and Coppa Italia, exiting the Champions League playoff round against PSV Eindhoven, and being eliminated by Empoli in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.

Igor Tudor: short spell, a disappointing exit

Igor Tudor replaced Motta at season’s end hoping to fix the course and return the club to the top. However, his spell was not much better.

The Croatian coach oversaw about 24 matches, winning 10, drawing 8 and losing 6, with 39 goals scored and 29 conceded. After a run of middling results and a slow start to the new season, management decided to part ways, launching another cycle of frequent coaching changes that unsettled form and morale.

Punchline 1: Rugani’s injury is so punctual, it could file for a bench-spot promotion—the only thing stronger than his hamstrings is his commitment to the squad depth.

Punchline 2: Juventus’ season is like a sniper’s joke: it aims for glory, pulls the trigger, and the ball still finds the bench. At this rate, the only thing scoring is the headline writers.