Francisco Conceicao was the most influential Juventus player in the attacking phase against Aston Villa, but he fell just short of scoring a goal.
The Bianconeri**escaped the Champions League contest with a goalless draw** as a last-minute goal from Morgan Rogers was ruled out for a foul on Michele Di Gregorio. Nevertheless, the Italians could have snatched the opener early on through Conceicao.
Despite being the shortest player on the pitch, the 21-year-old met a corner kick from Teun Koopmeiners at the back post with a solid header that appeared to have crossed the line at first sight before being parried away by a fantastic save from Emiliano Martinez.
All eyes were on the match official who a few seconds later revealed that the ball didn’t entirely cross the line as confirmed by the goal-line technology. Later footage showed that the ball was only a few centimeters away from being counted as a goal.
Juventus winger Conceicao against Milan at San Siro
Conceicao felt Juventus deserved to win the contest, while rueing his missed chance.
“We played a good match, but we knew it was going to be a difficult one,” noted the Portugal international in his post-match interview with Sky Sport Italia via IlBianconero. “We deserved the three points and now we move forward to win the next matches.”
“I wanted to score, but Dibu [Martinez] produced a great save. Now we move forward to win the next Champions League matches, which is important.”
The winger also revealed he’s happy in Turin, but remains uncertain about his future at the club.
“I’m very happy at Juve, but I don’t know what will happen because the clubs have to talk to one another.”
Conceicao joined Juventus on a dry loan from Porto until the end of the season. It is reported that his contract includes a release clause worth 30 million euros which will become active next summer. Moreover, many believe two clubs**have a gentlemen’s agreement** over a summer sale.