Juve's Koopmeiners back in contention after rib injury

Updated: Oct 29, 2024, 02:34 pm

Oct 29 (Reuters) - Juventus midfielder Teun Koopmeiners has recovered from a rib fracture and is available for their mid-week Serie A home game against Parma, manager Thiago Motta said on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Dutch international joined Juve from Atalanta for a reported fee of around 54.7 million euros ($58.95 million) in August.

Koopmeiners made seven appearances for the Turin club before sustaining a rib fracture during their match against Cagliari earlier this month.

Motta’s side have been hit hard by injuries as defender Gleison Bremer, forward Arek Milik, and midfielder Douglas Luiz remain sidelined. Winger Nico Gonzalez is also unavailable due to a muscle injury.

"We won't have Gleison, Douglas, Nico or Arek but we will recover Koop. We'll see if he can start from the first minute or be with us during the game," Motta told reporters.

Parma are on a seven-game winless streak in Serie A, with their only victory this season coming at home against AC Milan in August. They sit 17th in the standings, having earned eight points from nine matches.

Juventus are third with 17 points, coming off a thrilling 4-4 draw at Inter Milan. They trail Inter by one point and are five points behind league leaders Napoli.

Motta's side, previously goal shy in the league, earned praise for their attacking prowess against Inter. However, Motta emphasized the need for improvement, as his team conceded two penalties — both converted by Inter's Piotr Zielinski.

"It was a good performance at San Siro but we could have won, but that's now in the past, everything else is just people's opinions and doesn't count much at this moment in time," Motta said.

"Something to improve, for sure is penalties. We must always finish with 11 men and not cause penalties.

"I always say, the next match is the most important. I respect everyone's opinions, mine as a coach is that we have to learn to manage the moments when others do better than us."

($1 = 0.9279 euros) (Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru Editing by Christian Radnedge)