Juventus have dismissed Igor Tudor as manager, appointing Next Gen head coach Massimo Brambilla as caretaker for the club’s upcoming midweek fixture against Udinese.
The decision, made on Monday, gives the temporary manager a brief 48-hour window to prepare for the season’s first midweek Serie A match. This rapid transition offers none of the breathing room provided by an international break, which was the case when Tudor himself replaced Thiago Motta in March.
Brambilla is expected to lead the team for this single match before returning to his duties with the youth squad. The club is reportedly working to secure a permanent replacement, widely believed to be Luciano Spalletti, who is anticipated to take over training on Thursday.
This one-game interim appointment is a rare event in Juventus’s storied history, as the club seldom dismisses managers mid-season. Brambilla, who has earned praise for his work in Serie C, now steps into the senior role tasked with stopping the team’s slide, even if only for one night. He faces the challenge of leading a team he has never coached in Serie A, in a crucial match at the Allianz Stadium between the eighth and ninth-placed teams.
The managerial change comes as Juventus grapples with its worst run of form in 16 years, having failed to score in four consecutive games for the first time since 1991. The team has appeared increasingly disorganized in recent league matches, creating a tense atmosphere heading into the clash with Udinese.
For the upcoming game, Brambilla will be without Gleison Bremer, Juan Cabal, Carlo Pinsoglio, and Arek Milik, while Kenan Yildiz’s fitness remains uncertain. Italian media predicts Brambilla will stick with Tudor’s 3-4-2-1 formation. Key lineup decisions loom, with potential competition between Jonathan David and Dusan Vlahovic for the striker role, Weston McKennie and Joao Mario at right wing-back, and Federico Gatti and Daniele Rugani in defence.
The transition could be particularly significant for Canadian striker Jonathan David, who has struggled for consistency since joining the club. Criticized for his constant lineup changes, Tudor frequently rotated his forwards, preventing David from finding a rhythm. This match offers David a potential fresh start to prove his value ahead of the new manager’s arrival. As a major long-term investment, the club needs him to replicate the prolific form he has shown for Lille and the Canadian national team.
While their opponents, Udinese, have cooled off after a strong start to the season with just one win since September, Juventus’s current spiral makes no fixture a certainty. The hope is that Brambilla can inspire a short-term rebound before the club’s next permanent manager inherits a challenging situation.
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