“It is practically impossible” for Kostas Manolas to face Chelsea in the Champions League, confirmed Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco.
The Giallorossi were beaten 1-0 at home by Napoli in Serie A on Saturday evening and the Greek defender limped off with a suspected thigh strain.
“He hurt himself during that chance for Dries Mertens and I think it is practically impossible to see him on the pitch on Wednesday,” Di Francesco told Sky Sport Italia.
“It is practically impossible” for Kostas Manolas to face Chelsea in the Champions League, confirmed Roma Coach Eusebio Di Francesco.
The Giallorossi were beaten 1-0 at home by Napoli in Serie A on Saturday evening and the Greek defender limped off with a suspected thigh strain.
“He hurt himself during that chance for Dries Mertens and I think it is practically impossible to see him on the pitch on Wednesday,” Di Francesco told Sky Sport Italia.
This only adds to the injury crisis, as Roma were already missing Stephan El Shaarawy, Patrik Schick, Kevin Strootman, Gregoire Defrel and Emerson Palmieri.
Lorenzo Pellegrini also went off during the Napoli game, but initial reports suggest it was just a precaution, as he had a muscular problem while on international duty with Italy.
“There are various reasons behind the number of injuries, as some are knocks, others come from past issues. If I had been able to train with them from the start, it’d be different, as we signed a lot of players towards the end of the transfer session.
“We signed Schick, who had three training sessions and risks hurting himself again. Rick Karsdorp had surgery on his knee the moment he arrived.
“I don’t like to look towards these things. I would prefer to have more choices to make, but I don’t at this moment.”
Of the players out injured, the only ones who might be available against Chelsea on Wednesday are Strootman and El Shaarawy.
Roma are second in their Champions League group after a draw with Atletico Madrid and victory away to Qarabag, while Antonio Conte’s men won both their games.
Much like the Giallorossi, Chelsea also suffered a defeat this weekend, falling 2-1 to bottom of the table Crystal Palace in the Premier League.
The Blues are missing Alvaro Morata – who should be back against Roma – N’Golo Kante and Danny Drinkwater, while Victor Moses went off during the loss to Palace with a hamstring injury.
“We have to prepare for the next game against Roma in the Champions League,” Conte told Sky Sports UK.
“We have to check all the players and then to try to do our best. We have to go game by game. This season will be very difficult in all aspects. We must be focused game by game and try to do our best. At the end of the season we will see what happened.”