The Portuguese had to be taken off after just 90 seconds of the game after colliding with Dejan Stankovic, and tests confirmed there was no ligament damage, but the sprained knee will rule out the player for a month.

The injury comes at the time where Tiago was beginning to finally prove his worth in the Old Lady's midfield alongside Mohamed Sissoko.

Since his big move to Juventus from Lyon in the summer of 2007, Tiago failed to establish himself as a first team regular, and nearly left the Turin club on more than one occasion.

But the 28-year-old showed a different side of his talent this season, earning coach Claudio Ranieri's trust.

Now Ranieri is left with a selection dilemma ahead of Juve's UEFA Champions League clash at FC Zenit of Russia on Tuesday.

Tiago will join the club's long injury list, which already includes David Trezeguet, Christian Poulsen, Gianluigi Buffon, Jonathan Zebina and Hasan Salihamidzic.