Advertisement

Roma suffer another blow with Iturbe knee injury

MILAN (Reuters) - AS Roma suffered another blow on Sunday as they confirmed that forward Juan Manuel Iturbe had suffered damage to his right knee and ankle during the previous day's 1-1 draw with Empoli.

"Iturbe underwent tests this morning that revealed a distortive trauma to his right knee, with damage to the lateral collateral ligament," said the Serie A side in a statement.

"Iturbe also suffered a strain to his right ankle and potential ligament damage. The player has already started treatment on the injury."

Roma did not make any mention of an operation, however, and Italian media said he would be out of action for around six weeks.

"It's tough but that's life, all I can do now is work to come back stronger," said Iturbe on Twitter.

Iturbe, born in Argentina and raised in Paraguay, joined Roma from Verona last year.

Midfielder Kevin Strootman said on Friday that he would also face a layoff after a new problem with his left knee, which sidelined him for eight months last year, turned out to be worse than expected.

Roma are second in Serie A but have lost ground on leaders Juventus after drawing their last four league games.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; editing by Justin Palmer)