Federico Chiesa suffers abdominal strain [UPDATED]

In the 35th minute of Sunday’s yawn-inducing draw against Lazio, Fiorentina got a glimpse of its darkest timeline when Federico Chiesa called for a substitution. We were all puzzled at the time, as he hadn’t suffered any obvious injury and walked off under his own power and without any kind of limp before wrapping himself in a coat and sobbing on the bench. The team announced late yesterday, though, stating that Chiesa suffered an abdominal strain.

In a move that will surely frustrate fans, the club didn’t provide a timeline for the Italy international’s recovery. However, some cursory research on the internet and through my brilliant sister, who’s a registered nurse, suggests a range of outcomes. If it’s a minor strain, he’ll probably only miss a couple of weeks. If it’s a serious one, he could be out for a month and a half or more.

The good news is that he’ll almost certainly be recovered in time for the Coppa Italia semifinal, but he’ll almost certainly miss next week’s clash at Cagliari and the upcoming Euro qualifiers against Finland and Liechtenstein. There’s a slight chance that he’ll be able to go against Torino at the end of the month, but we wouldn’t be shocked if he was held out against AS Roma, Frosinone, and Bologna too. He should be ready for the trip to Juventus, at least, but his likely absence in over half of the remaining fixtures further dooms this already futile Fiorentina season.

UPDATE [14:59 11 March 2019]

Now we’re hearing rumors from the generally reliable Luca Calamai that Fede will be fully recovered in time for the Cagliari match. Either it’s just a minor strain or he’s just one pair of sideburns away from being Wolverine.