Allegri Relieved by International Break As He Confirms Muscular Injury for Giorgio Chiellini

Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri confirmed that Giorgio Chiellini suffered a muscle injury  after he was forced off in the dying stages of their Serie A game on Saturday.

Chiellini was replaced by Andrea Barzagli in the 81st minute of the goalless draw between Juventus and SPAL and is now expected to miss Italy's upcoming friendlies against Argentina and England.

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"Chiellini has a muscle pain," Allegri told Sky Sports, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo. "I do not know if he will go to the national team. Fortunately there is an international break and we have time to recover energy."

The draw brought to an end Juve's run of twelve consecutive Serie A victories and opened the door for title challengers Napoli to close the deficit to two points when they host Genoa on Sunday evening.

It was an unexpectedly frustrating result against a side who had kept just three clean sheets in the league all season prior to Saturday.

"We did not have the energy, we played three games in six days, and before that we played a lot," added Allegri. "We have not scored many goals in ten games and if we do not get goals, we will hardly draw many games."

As well as chasing a seventh consecutive Scudetto, Juventus will also face Milan in the Coppa Italia final and Real Madrid in the quarter finals of the Champions League - a repeat of last season's final between the two sides.

Allegri said that the games against Madrid would be "two wonderful nights" and denied that this could impact on Juve's domestic campa.