If anything, Federico Gatti has proven to be quite the iron man for [Juventus](https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com) this season. As other players have gotten injured all around him, the man who entered Saturday’s return from the international break has had to play the most amount of minutes of anybody in bianconero almost out of necessity due to all of the injuries going on around him.
But when Gatti went down injured after being stomped on his heel Saturday evening, his reaction said it all. As much as he tried to gut things out, the fact that somebody who has likely played through so many other pains, he just couldn’t continue to gut things as much as he tried.
Now we know why.
Two days after Gatti was forced to come off midway through the first half of Juventus’ 1-0 win over Genoa in Igor Tudor’s debut as the club’s interim manager, [it was announced Monday](https://www.juventus.com/en/news/articles/medical-update-federico-gatti-31-03-25) that the bruising Italian defender suffered “a compound fracture to the the diaphysis of the fibula,” according to the medical update. As per usual these days, Juventus did not include any sort of timetable for his return from injury, but it is widely reported in the Italian press that Gatti will miss at least a month due to the injury.
If it goes beyond a four-week recovery, that would mean Gatti’s status for the final month of the season is in serious jeopardy as Juventus try and secure a place in the top four.
The short but important medical update, courtesy of Juventus’ website:
> Federico Gatti, who left the field during the first half of Juventus-Genoa following an injury to his left leg, underwent diagnostic tests at the J|Medical this Monday morning.
>
> The tests revealed the presence of a compound fracture to the the diaphysis of the fibula.
Any time you see “compound fracture” included in a diagnosis and it is not preceded by “ruled out a” or something of that ilk, you know said player will be forced to miss some games. And that is exactly what Gatti is now looking at, with a month out to recover from his first significant injury of the season.
Gatti was injured as he chased down a Genoa player following a turnover by Renato Veiga, getting inadvertently stomped on his Achilles and immediately staying down in serious pain. After getting treatment on the field and then the sideline, Gatti tried to grit his teeth through it, but was forced to be replaced by Pierre Kalulu 10 minutes later.
With Gatti out for at least the next month, it now creates yet another depth crunch at the back for Juventus. And it’s especially tough considering they’ve now got a manager in Tudor who uses a back three, meaning all three natural center backs who are healthy — Kalulu, Veiga and Lloyd Kelly — will almost certainly be in the starting lineup against Roma at the Stadio Olimpico this coming weekend.