Inter Milan will miss standout Brazil defender for most of the rest of the season but he'll be back for its Serie A title party, coach Jose' Mourinho believes.
''He will play the last game of the season and will be able to celebrate the scudetto on the field,'' Mourinho told Italian TV.
Maicon hurt his leg in Brazil's 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw in Ecuador Sunday and was initially ruled out for the rest of Inter's campaign.
The first match he will miss is Sunday's visit to 13th-placed Udinese, who will be without Italy striker Antonio Di Natale after his ligament injury in a 2-0 win in Montenegro Saturday.
Along with Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Maicon has probably been Inter's most influential player as Inter have opened up a seven-point lead over Juventus with nine games to go.
But Mourinho thinks teen defender Davide Santon can ably deputise for the giant Brazilian.
''Santon is super bravissimo,'' the Portuguese coach said.
Santon, 18, acknowledged that the loss of the colossus ''is a real blow because we know how important he is to us''.
''But we have enough defenders to go around and if I don't move across then Maxwell could fill in,'' he added.
If Santon does not switch from his usual left-back position, Argentina captain Javier Zanetti could also drop back from midfield to the right side of defence against Udinese, who have scored three fewer goals than they have conceded this term.
Zanetti will be eager to show his usual strength after panting along with his teammates in a 6-1 defeat in Bolivia Wednesday night.
Juventus are looking to in-form Italy striker Vincenzo Iaquinta to make sure they stay in touch with the leaders at least until an April 18 head-to-head that will probably decide the championship's fate.
Iaquinta scored in Italy's 1-1 draw with Ireland Wednesday and will be hoping to extend his impressive run at Chievo, who have charged out of the relegation zone in the last two months.
Milan, seven points behind Juve in third, host second-from-last Lecce on Sunday night amid speculation about the future of coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has been linked to Chelsea.
Fourth-placed Genoa go to bottom club Reggina without influential Brazilian midfielder Thiago Motta; fifth-placed Fiorentina travel to 10th-placed Atalanta without injured Romanian striker Adrian Mutu; and sixth-placed Roma host 17th-placed Bologna with skipper Francesco Totti likely to start despite his long-running knee woes.
