Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba is set for another lay-off after suffering a thigh injury while taking free-kicks.
The 29-year-old will be out for about three weeks and will miss the start of France’s Euro 2024 qualifying campaign.
After being dropped for Juve’s Europa League win over Freiburg last week, he missed Sunday’s 4-2 win over Sampdoria.
“This morning Pogba was taking free-kicks and felt a twinge in his adductor,” Juve coach Massimiliano Allegri said after Sunday’s game.
A club statement said that Pogba underwent a medical test on Monday and that he has suffered “a low-grade tear to his right thigh adductor”.
“He has already started with the rehabilitation process aimed at resuming competitive activity,” it added.
Juve have the return leg against Freiburg on Thursday, with Pogba having been dropped for the first game after being late for a team meeting last Wednesday.
Pogba has only made two substitute appearances since rejoining Juve from Manchester United last summer, with the first of those coming on 28 February.
Pogba’s previous appearance was for United in April 2022, when he suffered a calf injury in a 4-0 defeat at Liverpool which ruled him out for the remainder of last season.
The 2018 World Cup winner then suffered a knee injury in pre-season but initially opted not to get an operation, fearing it would rule him out of last year’s World Cup.
But he was later deemed to need surgery anyway and, although he returned to the Juve squad in January, he suffered another muscular problem that further delayed his return to action.
France will begin their Group B fixtures against the Netherlands at the Stade de France on Friday, 24 March, before the World Cup runners-up visit the Republic of Ireland three days later.
Juve’s first game after the international break is at home to Hellas Verona on 1 April.
