Italy coach Luciano Spalletti is confident Riccardo Calafiori did not sustain a significant injury after the Arsenal man was hurt in a bizarre incident by France’s Ousmane Dembele.
The Nations League match at Parc des Princes saw the Azzurri concede a Bradley Barcola goal after 14 seconds, but then fight back to win 3-1 with goals from Federico Dimarco, Davide Frattesi and Giacomo Raspadori.
It was not entirely without incident, because Calafiori was forced to limp off in the second half after he was clattered from behind by a flying Dembele.
Alessandro Bastoni went into the tackle on Dembele after the Frenchman had already run past several Azzurri, sending the forward flying into the air with no control over his landing.
Unfortunately for the Italy star, he happened to be in the trajectory of Dembele’s leg as it crashed down onto the back of his calf.
It was an entirely unintentional impact, but still akin to a particularly impressive karate kick.
Spalletti was asked about the Arsenal defender’s condition in the press conference after the Nations League match and assured it was only a knock, so he should be fit to play against Israel on Monday evening.
Frattesi also went off, but he told reporters in the mixed zone it was just fatigue.
