Chelsea loanee Renato Veiga must have been extremely frustrated this week after picking up an injury during a night when Juventus were dumped out of the Champions League.
PSV Eindhoven netted an extra-time winner on Wednesday evening to eliminate Juventus in the Champions League knockout round play-offs. On top of crashing out of Europe, the Italian giants saw a key player leave the match early with an injury.
Chelsea allowed Renato Veiga, 21, to leave in the winter transfer window to join Juventus on loan for the rest of the season.
In such a short space of time, the left-footed defender established himself as a main starter in Turin at centre-half.
Unfortunately, Veiga was forced off injured versus PSV and left the field after only 12 minutes. It means he won’t be playing any more Champions League football this season after Juventus suffered defeat without him.
Renato Veiga will be unavailable for three weeks
According to The Athletic, Veiga is set to miss around three weeks with a tendon injury at the back of the ankle.
The report states that the Juventus defender will stay with the Italian’s during the period of recovery rather than return to Cobham.
Here is a look at the Juventus schedule over the next few weeks:
- Cagliari vs Juventus (Serie A) – 23 February
- Juventus vs Empoli (Coppa Italia) – 26 February
- Juventus vs Verona (Serie A) – 2 March
- Juventus vs Atalanta (Serie A) – 9 March
- Fiorentina vs Juventus (Serie A) – 16 March
Due to his impressive start to life at Juventus, Veiga was being dubbed the ‘new wall’ because of his displays in the heart of defence. While it’s frustrating that he’ll now face a small spell out of action, it’s a relief that it’s not a season-ending injury.
Renato Veiga has been proven right
A reason why Veiga was pushing to leave Chelsea in the January transfer window was because he was seeking the chance to go and play as a centre-back on a weekly basis.
In fairness, he’s proven in just a few weeks he was right to pursue minutes at centre-half because he’s thrived in that position in Juventus colours.
| Fixture | Minutes played | Match rating |
| PSV Eindhoven 3-1 Juventus | 12 | 6.3 |
| Juventus 1-0 Inter Milan | 90 | 7.6 |
| Juventus 2-1 PSV Eindhoven | 90 | 6.7 |
| Como 1-2 Juventus | 90 | 7.3 |
| Juventus 4-1 Empoli | 90 | 7.6 |
Chelsea supporters are amazed by Veiga’s quality in a Juventus shirt. It’ll be very interesting to see what happens with him next season because there’s no option to turn his loan deal into a permanent one, so the Blues should be in a position of strength. His contract with the Blues doesn’t expire until 2031.
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