Juventus teenager Kenan Yildiz gave Igor Tudor a major headache ahead of two season-defining contests against Bologna and Lazio.
On Sunday, the Bianconeri were enjoying a comfortable 2-0 lead over Monza thanks to Nico Gonzalez and Randal Kolo Muani’s goals. However, Yildiz lost his head and got himself sent off for elbowing Alessandro Bianco in the face just before the half-time whistle.
Luckily for the Old Lady, the Turk’s teammates kept their composure and were able to sail towards safety by dropping the tempo in the second period and maintaining a low stance.
But while the teenager’s foolishness didn’t cause much harm against rock-bottom Monza, it could cost them dearly in the coming weeks.
As explained earlier this morning, Yildiz’s act constitutes a violent conduct, so he’ll be slapped with a two-match ban at the very least, thus ruling him out of the upcoming contests against Bologna and Lazio, who happen to be Juve’s direct competitors in the race for the all-important 4th place.
Therefore, Tudor will have to improvise a new solution to make up for the youngster’s absence.
According to JuventusNews24, Randal Kolo Muani and Nicolas Gonzalez are expected to maintain their places in the attacking trident, but it remains to be seen who will play as the other attacking midfielder in the 3-4-2-1 formation.
Francisco Conceicao could be a natural solution to replace Yildiz, but the young Portuguese hasn’t entirely convinced Tudor who has been keeping him on the bench since his arrival.
The Croatian manager would certainly prefer to field Teun Koopmeiners, but it remains to be seen if the latter will be fit enough to start after missing the last two contests due to an Achilles tendon problem.
Finally, the recently returning Samuel Mbangula represents a third option, one capable of occupying the left flank in Yildiz’ absence.
