One of Bologna’s most prominent players is facing a race against time to be fit for their Champions League clash against Liverpool on Wednesday night.
Vincenzo Italiano’s team suffered a significant body blow at the weekend when their top scorer Santiago Castro had to be substituted midway through the second half of their 1-1 draw against Atalanta due to calf injury.
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According to Quotidiano Sportivo, the 20-year-old is battling the clock to recover in time for tomorrow night’s clash at Anfield and is ‘dying’ to prove his fitness ahead of kick-off for such an illustrious fixture.
The young Argentine isn’t the only injury concern in the Bologna squad at the moment, with experienced midfielder Remo Freuler also ‘in bad shape’ after he picked up a knock against the Europa League holders on Saturday.
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If Castro doesn’t shake off his calf injury in time to face Liverpool tomorrow night, it’d come as a massive blow to Bologna.
The 20-year-old is the only player in Italiano’s squad to have found the net more than once so far this season, and he’s been on the scoresheet in each of his last three Serie A games, having hit a prolific run of form ahead of the Rossoblu’s visit to Anfield.
Even if the youngster doesn’t recover for the trip to Anfield, his probable replacement also poses a threat – Thijs Dallinga scored for Toulouse in both of their matches against the Reds in the Europa League group stage last autumn, although he’s yet to get off the mark for his new club since his summer move.
Whether it’s Castro or the Dutchman leading the line for Bologna tomorrow night, Liverpool will need to have their guard up defensively for the entire duration of the match, given the goalscoring prowess of the two centre-forwards.
Even though the Argentine’s potential absence would be a big blow for the Rossoblu, we never like to see footballers succumbing to injury, and hopefully he can make a swift recovery from the calf problem that he suffered at the weekend.
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