Juve's Vidal seeking injury redemption
Arturo Vidal is desperate to grasp a personal opportunity for "redemption" after admitting injury woe saw him fall below his best level for Juventus this season.
The midfielder underwent an operation on a knee injury towards the end of last season after playing through the pair barrier to help Juve on their way to winning Serie A.
Vidal was a fitness concern for the World Cup, but managed to return in time to feature for Chile - who were knocked out by Brazil in the round of 16.
The former Bayer Leverkusen man believes that returning so quickly threatened to leave him with long-term damage, but he stated that his love for Juve meant he had to play on.
"The end of last season was cursed, my performance went down a lot," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "On a personal level with Juve and the Chilean team it ended badly. Now there is a great opportunity for redemption.
"I know that Juventus expects a lot from me, but it always has been that way and is not a problem.
"Unfortunately having to recover so fast [from surgery], it seriously threatened to irreparably hurt me. Mine was a choice of love for Juve. I could not leave the team before the semi-final of the Europa League against Benfica.
"I played the World Cup and also a good part of the season, but I decided with my heart, I love Juve. And I must say thanks to [Chile coach] Jorge Sampaoli who waited, another coach would not have done so.
Get FourFourTwo Newsletter
The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week.
"I played in dire physical condition, just me and the doctors know. [But] I always gave a thousand percent in the field, regardless of how I was."