The unsuccessful tenure of Italian manager Thiago Motta at Juventus is nearly over. The Italian giants have opened talks internally at the club about sacking him before the end of the current season, with the Bianconeri expected to replace the former Bologna manager in the coming weeks, according to Sky Italy. If Thiago Motta gets sacked, Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli has identified the former Lazio head coach Igor Tudor as the potential new caretaker manager until the end of the season. The Croatian manager was a Juventus player in the past and the assistant of Andrea Pirlo during the 2020-21 season before he moved to Hellas Verona and then to Olympique Marseille, before a short stint at Lazio after the resignation of Maurizio Sarri at the club. Tudor was meant to start a new cycle at the Italian club, but then parted ways after three months in charge of Lazio, and the Biancocelesti decided later to appoint Marco Baroni as their new head coach in the summer 2024.
Motta’s campaign at Juventus has been deeply unsuccessful after the club decided to appoint the former Bologna manager to start a new era after the sacking of Massimiliano Allegri. With a lot of expectations on his shoulders, Motta was not able to deliver and despite still being in the race for a spot in the next Champions League, Juventus are currently out of the Coppa Italia after being eliminated by Empoli and also were knocked out by PSV in the UEFA Champions League playoffs.
More than the results, the new Juventus coach was not able to recreate the exciting quality of football he showed when he was the Bologna manager last season, reaching the first ever UEFA Champions League qualification in the history of the club. On top of this, according to multiple reports some key players are not happy with the current coach and showed some disappointment, such as Serbian striker Dusan Vlahovic and Turkish talent Kenan Yildiz.
Juventus are facing Genoa next week in Turin, after the end of the international break, but as things stand it’s unlikely the former Genoa player and manager will sit on the Bianconeri bench. In the last two Serie A games against Fiorentina and Atalanta, the Bianconeri conceded seven goals and scored none, and in particular the 4-0 home defeat against Atalanta marked their worst home loss in a Serie A match since October 1967, when they last conceded four or more goals. Those are two games that also marked a big fracture between the fanbase and the current manager, and they are now pushing the Italian club to make an early decision about Motta’s future.
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