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We knew Christian Maggio picked up an injury in Napoli's last training session before the Porto match, but that he'd traveled with the club anyways. We knew he probably wasn't going to play, and he didn't. What we didn't know was what the injury was.
Now we do, and it's a doozy.
Maggio was suffering from a condition known as pneumothorax. It's a buildup of gas or fluid in the chest cavity that causes a lung to partially or completely collapse. The story going around that references club sources tries to make it sound more mild than that, but the Mayo Clinic definition is pretty straightforward. Based on their definition the news today that he had to have emergency surgery to insert a tube to drain the buildup and help restore him to normal lung function, it had to have been a relatively severe episode.
Maggio is said to be fine and the condition "under control". He'll remain in the hospital under observation for a day or so and be released to go home afterwards. While the club hasn't said more than that yet, it's probably safe to say that he won't play against Torino.
Get healthy soon, Christian.
