The Serie A team announced on Tuesday that Ademola Lookman would miss Atalanta’s Champions League match against Barcelona due to a knee injury he sustained during training.
Atalanta said in a brief statement that the 27-year-old forward had injured the lateral joint in his right knee and would not be traveling to Spain, where the Italians are hoping to earn direct qualification for the Champions League last 16 on Wednesday.
Atalanta did not specify how long Lookman would be out, but Italian media suggest he could be out for up to a month.
Lookman will be a significant loss for Atalanta, as he has scored 14 goals and assisted six others this season.
In the Europa League final victory over German champions Bayer Leverkusen previous season, he also scored a hat-trick.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s team is still in the running for the Serie A title and is dominating Europe’s top club competition because Atalanta has performed well above their weight in recent seasons both domestically and overseas.
The team from Bergamo is now ranked seventh in the 36-team league phase of the Champions League, but with so many teams within a point of them, a loss to already-qualified Barcelona will probably result in a play-off berth.