Juventus sack Thiago Motta, appoint Igor Tudor as interim replacement

Juventus have officially sacked Thiago Motta following a string of poor results for the Old Lady. Former Lazio coach Igor Tudor was appointed to fill Motta’s vacancy and immediately took charge of training on Monday (24/3).

This decision also clarifies the fate of Motta, who was recently linked with a sacking. The pressure on the Juventus board to replace the coach is growing as Manuel Locatelli and friends continue to receive negative results.

Despite earlier reports that Motta would be retained, Juventus have finally decided to terminate the 42-year-old’s contract through sporting director Cristiano Guintoli.

The news was broken by transfer pundit Fabrizio Romano on his X account on Sunday evening (23/3).

“Confirmed: Thiago Motta has just been released by Juventus. It’s over. Igor Tudor will be the new head coach, as reported this week,” wrote the Italian journalist.

According to Football Italia, Igor Tudor has arrived in Turin and will immediately take charge of the Old Lady’s training session on Monday (24 March). The Croatian coach is set to make his debut when Juventus host Genoa on Sunday (30/3).

Igor Tudor is no stranger to the Allianz Stadium. He was once Andrea Pirlo’s assistant when the latter coached Juventus in the 2020/2021 season. Tudor worked with Pirlo for 52 games.

He only stayed as Pirlo’s assistant for one season before moving on to become head coach of Hellas Verona the following season. Tudor lasted just one season at Hellas Verona before deciding to move to French club Marseille.

A season later, the Split-born Croatian decided to return to Italy, accepting an offer to coach Lazio. However, after only eleven games in charge, Tudor surprisingly handed in his resignation.

This time, Juventus have tied him to the club until 30 June, with a clause to extend his contract if he meets certain targets.

Tudor is expected to clean up the mess left by Motta. He is expected to take the Old Lady into the Champions League zone or at least into the top four by the end of the season. Juventus currently sit in fifth place on 52 points, just one point ahead of Bologna.

In the league, Juventus were not in the best of form before the international break, suffering back-to-back defeats. First at the hands of Atalanta (10/3), who thrashed hosts Juventus 4-0, and then 3-0 at home to Fiorentina (17/3).

Juventus have also just been knocked out of the Italian Cup after losing 5-3 on penalties to Empoli in the quarter-finals. Things did not go much better in Europe, where the Turin giants were eliminated from the last 16 after going down 4-3 on aggregate.