N’Golo Kante has tested positive for coronavirus and will miss Chelsea’s Champions League showdown with Juventus on Wednesday
The diminutive midfielder has been a mainstay in the side when fit and remains an important player under Tuchel although the manager will have to do without him in their European clash in Turin.
German head coach Tuchel confirmed that Kante has gone into self-isolation after his positive diagnosis. This means he (Kante) will also miss Chelsea’s next Premier League game against Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
Tuchel will shuffle the pack in Kante’s absence with Jorginho, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Saul Niguez all options at his disposal.
The German is also without Reece James, who limped out of Chelsea’s 1-0 loss to Manchester City on Saturday, while Mason Mount has not yet recovered from the injury that kept him out of the defeat by the Premier League champions.
Christian Pulisic has a long-term problem and will not fly to Turin for the Champions’ League group-stage clash.
Juventus, meanwhile, are without Paulo Dybala and Alvaro Morata, who have both been ruled out through injury.
A club statement read, “Diagnostic tests were carried out at J Medical. The results showed for Alvaro Morata a low-grade muscle injury of the hamstring in the right thigh”.
“For Paulo Dybala, an elongation of the semitendinosus muscle in the left thigh. Both will be available after the international break”.
Both Chelsea and Juve won their opening Group H encounters, with the Champions League holders defeating Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 courtesy of Romelu Lukaku, while Dybala and Morata scored on the cusp of half-time as the Italian giants defeated Malmo 3-0 in Sweden.