Juventus forward Federico Chiesa was recently asked to share his experience of suffering an ACL injury and coming back from it.
The Italian attacker – who suffered the injury during an encounter with Roma last year – discussed Smalling’s slide tackle which caused Chiesa’s knee to bend.
“Over the course of my career, I’ve had nastier injuries which were caused by racing at full speed and clashing with an opponent,” Chiesa said in a recent appearance on Juventus’ Twitch channel.
“In that case the opponent’s tackle wasn’t great, but Smalling’s objective at the end of the day was to get the ball. He went on the ball, he didn’t do it with malice.”
“These things happen in contact sports. I saw my former teammate Bentancur, to whom I wish speedy recovery, break his ACL by himself. It took very little, these are things that happen a thousand times but a fraction of a second is enough in which you put your foot down badly and then you are out 6-7 months.”
