Juventus coach Igor Tudor heaped praise on the performance of Francisco Conceicao who did well during his cameo against Lazio.
The Portuguese winger was a regular starter during Thiago Motta’s time at the club, but was relegated to the bench upon the arrival of the Croatian manager.
The 46-year-old has yet to play the Porto-owned player as a starter, but he brought him in for Nicolas Gonzalez immediately after the interval in Saturday’s big showdown against the Biancocelesti which ended in a 1-1 draw.
Conceicao worked his socks off, especially when Juventus were reduced to 10 men following Pierre Kalulu’s dismissal.
Conceicao finally impressses Igor Tudor
In the final stages of the contest, Tudor decided to haul him off alongside fellow second-half substitute Vasilije Adzic in favour of the taller Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Gatti.
Nevertheless, the manager apologised to the young duo, insisting it was merely a tactical decision, as he sought a stronger physical presence to defend the lead.
Moreover, Tudor reserved some praise for Conceicao, arguing that the winger enjoyed his best outing since he took over the team in March.
“I saw Nico little tired, he was struggling, whereas Francisco had his best performance since I’ve been here,” noted the former Lazio and Marseille manager in his post-match interview with DAZN via Football Italia.
“He fought hard and moved around, I liked his performance.”
Francisco Conceicao facing uncertain future
Hence, it remains to be seen if the 22-year-old has done enough to earn a starting spot in the last two rounds of the campaign against Udinese and Venezia.
Conceicao’s loan stint will expire at the end of the season, and Juventus don’t have the option to buy him.
Nevertheless, the club’s Football Director Cristiano Giuntoli had reassured that the player will “100%” stay in Turin, albeit that statement was made when Motta was still at the helm.
