Balotelli to miss next three games
An injury suffered in shooting practice has interrupted striker Mario Balotelli's renaissance at Nice.
The Italian on a free transfer on deadline day and his move to the Cote d'Azur appears to have reinvigorated the former Manchester City, Liverpool and AC Milan striker.
He has seven goals to his name for Nice, with six coming in the league, helping the club to the top of the Ligue 1 table.
But it will now have to cope without its talisman for the upcoming fixtures with Bastia, Toulouse and Guingamp after the injury forced him to miss Friday's (AEDT) 2-0 defeat to Schakle, which saw Lucien Favre's men knocked out of the Europa League in the group stage.
"He won't be available for the three matches to come over the next 10 days, that's for sure," said Favre.
"For the matches that come after that, we don't know yet."
Nice will also be without defender Paul Baysse for the rest of the year because of a knee tendon complaint.
Going into Monday's (AEDT) meeting with Bastia, Nice holds a three-point lead over Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain at the top. It has not won Ligue 1 since 1959.
