Roma skipper Francesco Totti will be out for up to two months with a thigh muscle injury, almost certainly ruling him out of a late-February clash with Arsenal in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Tuesday's news was a bombshell for the club after Monday's initial estimate of only a 30-day stoppage for the talismanic striker.
New tests indicated Totti, 32, will be out for up to 60 days and at least 40, the Rome club said.
He will miss 7-9 league matches and is ''extremely doubtful'' for the first leg of the Arsenal clash in Rome on February 24 - though he could make it back for the second leg on March 11.
Totti injured his right thigh in Sunday's 3-2 defeat at Catania.
Pundits said his departure from the pitch spelled the end of Roma's eight-match winning streak in all competitions.
The Romans' run, fueled by Totti's return to fitness, lifted them from near the relegation zone to 10th and helped them climb from the bottom to the top of their Champions League group.
