Despite a summer of fresh speculation, Lucas Biglia returned to captain Lazio in their opening day Serie A victory against Bologna in the Stadio Olimpico. The central midfielder gave the Biancocelesti the lead from the penalty spot but Argentina manager, Gerardo Martino will be worried to have seen the 29-year-old limp off shortly after half time. With Pablo Zabaleta and Javier Pastore already doubtful and Paris St Germain requesting that Ángel Di María is given a respite from the national side while he acclimatises to France, Martino may need to significantly reshuffle his squad for the forthcoming friendlies against Bolivia and México.

Lazio will be fretting over the fitness of their captain Lucas Biglia ahead of their Champions League qualifier against Bayer Leverkusen next week but if the calf injury that forced him off yesterday is serious it is also cause for concern for Gerardo Martino. Biglia has become a key figure in the Argentina side since being drafted into the starting eleven by Alejandro Sabella during the World Cup and was unsurprisingly named by Martino in his latest squad. La Albiceleste are scheduled to play Bolivia and México in the United States at the start of September but this injury scare means Biglia joins the growing list of potentially unavailable players.

Manchester City full-back Pablo Zabaleta has already been ruled out after injuring his knee in training and Martino is mulling over his replacement with Julio Buffarini, Gabriel Mercado and Gino Peruzzi all under consideration. Similar to Biglia, Javier Pastore began his domestic season with injury after being substituted just minutes into Paris St Germain’s 1-0 win over Montpellier. The full extent of this is not known but Pastore may well miss the trip to the United States and if PSG have their way, Ángel Di María will also not be travelling. Following his recent transfer from Manchester United and having not played since the Copa América final, the Ligue 1 champions are requesting that Martino allows El Fideo to remain in France and prepare for his debut.

Martino’s squad selection came under some criticism for his rather unadventurous selection for the friendlies so this could provide a cause to introduce some of the younger players that many supporters were originally calling for. River Plate’s young midfielder, Matías Kranevitter would be an ideal choice to replace Biglia if indeed he is ruled out and perhaps the likes of Nico Gaitan or Paulo Dybala may offer alternatives to Di María.

Once Argentina receive confirmation of all these injuries, Martino will name his replacements and hopefully it will provide an opportunity to take a look at some new faces in La Selección.