Viviano faces up to six months on the sidelines

FC Internazionale Milano goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano has been ruled out for up to six months after picking up a cruciate ligament injury in his left knee in training.

Viviano, 25, who joined the Nerazzurri from Bologna FC in the summer, will undergo surgery in the coming days and is expected to miss the entirety of Inter's UEFA Champions League group stage campaign.

The former AC Cesena and Brescia Calcio goalkeeper has featured six times for Italy as Gianluigi Buffon's understudy, but now looks likely to be absent for his country's four remaining UEFA EURO 2012 qualifiers.