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Bad luck. Italian football has started this season with an Inter Milan that has yet to experience a loss and with a Juventus that can't afford to drop more points if they want to win their ninth consecutive Serie A title. In this sense, Cristiano Ronaldo is a key player for Juventus, but an injury could leave him out of the upcoming match against Mario Balotelli's Brescia.
What's happening with Ronaldo? Well, it turns out that CR7 ended the previous league match with some discomfort, as confirmed by his coach Maurizio Sarri on Monday. "Cristiano Ronaldo had some discomfort in his groin. We'll see what happens," said the Italian coach, casting doubt on the presence of the former Real Madrid player in Tuesday's match. "We'll see if a rest is essential," he concluded.
The reigning Italian champions are struggling to assimilate the tactical ideas of their new coach Maurizio Sarri, and had a hard time defeating newly promoted Hellas Verona last Saturday. The match ended 2-1 with a decisive penalty from Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo, but Verona hit the post in the last minute.
Juventus cannot fail away against Brescia if they want to put pressure on Inter Milan, who has won all their matches and currently leads the league with a two-point advantage over Juventus. After a 2-0 victory in the derby against AC Milan, the 'Nerazzurri' will host Lazio at San Siro, where Chilean player Alexis Sanchez could debut from the first minute.
Balotelli challenges Juventus in his debut
The debut of Mario Balotelli, who will play his first match with Brescia after serving a four-match suspension, is the center of attention in the fifth round of the Italian Serie A, the first midweek round of the year. The star signing of one of the newly promoted teams, who joined from Marseille, had to wait a month before being able to wear the shirt of his hometown club due to a suspension he had carried over from last year.
As you may remember, 'Super Mario' was punished by the French Football Federation for a straight red card received against Montpellier. His moment will come this Tuesday, in front of his fans and against the absolute dominator of the last eight years of Serie A. An exciting challenge that motivates Balotelli, who recently admitted in an interview to be in great shape.
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