Turin, Italy: Juventus midfield maestro Andrea Pirlo is out for at least five days with an injured left thigh muscle, ruling him out of Sunday's match against Parma and possibly Italy's key European Championship qualifier against Croatia next weekend.
Juventus says Pirlo was injured during training Friday and that medical exams ruled out muscle tears.
Pirlo scored with a free kick in Juve's 3-2 win over Olympiakos in the Champions League on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old Pirlo missed more than a month at the start of this season with a hip injury.
Italy hosts Croatia in Milan on Nov. 16 then faces Albania in a friendly two days later. Italy and Croatia are level first in Group H of qualifying for the 2016 tournament.
