Conceição, just a thigh knock: muscle tear ruled out

Francisco Conceição left the pitch early in Portugal's Nations League clash with Norway, coming off eleven minutes into the second half after a knock to his left thigh. Hours later came the news Juventus's medical staff were waiting for: scans ruled out any muscle tear, confirming a simple contusion.

Juventus's medical team, in constant contact with Portugal's staff, will still track the situation day by day, aiming to take no risks before he rejoins full training. Conceição has stayed with the national team camp regardless, a sign the recovery shouldn't drag on. Head coach Jorge Jesus, explaining the substitution, said the winger "gave excellent answers" before the collision forced him off.

For fantacalcio managers the news is good: no tear means no red alert ahead of the league restart. Luciano Spalletti's Juventus are back in action on Sunday 11 October at 20:45 away to Cagliari, and the cautious handling of the coming Portugal sessions is precisely meant to bring him to that fixture in the best shape.

Conceição is coming off one of the brightest starts to the season at Juventus: he leads the squad in shots attempted (12), shots on target (5), crosses (23) and chances created (8) through five league rounds, on top of his goal against Atalanta following two woodwork strikes against Parma and Milan. That form has already shown up in his fantacalcio price, which climbed from an opening 13 within the 11-20 band, where a high match rating carries an extra full point, and now sits a point above where it started, with the latest bump landing at matchday five.

Whoever has kept faith with him has made the right call so far, and this small scare shouldn't change the plans for the Cagliari trip. In the role at Juventus there remain solid alternatives should the caution run longer than expected: McKennie starts from a higher price (16), while González (13) and Alajbegović (12) round out the options on the attacking flank.

For now the picture looks like a passing niggle rather than a real injury: the final word will come from the next few days of training, but every signal out of the Portugal camp points the same reassuring way.

For those who picked him up at a mid-range auction price, this is the point: the price band he sits in rewards a high rating with a full extra point, and a player finding goals and assists consistently in that band is often worth more than his starting price. Keeping him in the squad, with the muscle tear ruled out, remains the easy call: the risk of a long lay-off was the only real worry of the last few hours, and that risk now looks behind him.