Giovanni Di Lorenzo suffered a blow to the head during Napoli’s match with Cagliari, looking visibly dazed as he stumbled off the pitch.
The 28-year-old Italian full back collided heads with Giorgio Altare after competing for the ball and he collapsed to the ground. He was treated on the pitch for a few minutes, before trying to play on.
It was clear that he couldn’t continue, however, and so he was replaced by Kevin Malcuit in the 27th minute. The Frenchman has only played around 100 minutes of action this campaign.
The injury is a concern to coach Luciano Spalletti, who is hoping to not lose any more players ahead of Thursday’s Europa League play-off match against Barcelona. This game is the second leg and the first leg ending 1-1 in Spain last week.
Napoli are already dealing with a number of other injuries, so tensions will be high ahead of Thursday’s European clash.