After two straight crushing losses in a poor season that saw the team finish fifth in the league, Juventus announced on Sunday that they had fired manager Thiago Motta and hired former player Igor Tudor.
After leading Bologna to Champions League qualification last season, Motta was hired in June on a three-year contract.
However, his presence in Turin did not ignite Juventus’ anticipated comeback.
Following a humiliating 4-0 loss to Atalanta at home, Juventus suffered a 3-0 defeat against Fiorentina last weekend.
Motta’s team fell to fifth place in the rankings, 12 points behind leaders Inter Milan, after being overtaken by Bologna.
“Juventus FC announces that it has relieved Thiago Motta of his position as coach of the men’s first team,” a club statement said.
“Juventus FC also announces that it has entrusted the leadership of the Men’s First Team to Igor Tudor who will direct the first training session tomorrow.”
If Juventus makes it to the Champions League, Tudor’s contract will be extended for another year until the end of this one, but the club has until July 30 to opt out of that commitment.
Tudor, who is now 46, joined Juventus in 1998 and played there for the most of his playing career.
The Croatian spent a season as Andrea Pirlo’s assistant at Juventus in 2020.
Tudor started and concluded his playing career at Hajduk Split, where he also had his first managerial position in 2013.
He has managed Udinese, Hellas Verona, and Lazio in Italy.
Maurizio Sarri was replaced as Lazio’s manager in March of last year by Tudor, who left at the end of the previous campaign after leading the team to a seventh-place finish and Europa League qualification.
Last month, Motta’s Juventus lost to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League playoffs after finishing 20th in the league standings.
In what Motta called a “shameful” performance, Juventus lost to Empoli at home in a quarterfinal penalty shootout less than a week later, eliminating them from the Coppa Italia.
Although there was a comeback following the first loss to Napoli in January, when Juventus won five straight, the manager has paid the price for the recent crushing losses, which have infuriated fans.
Since joining Juventus, Motta has taken a tough stance with players, telling Federico Chiesa he was not part of the manager’s plans before he was sold to Liverpool in August.
Earlier in the season, Juventus went 21 league games without a loss, but during that time, they dre 13 games, meaning they would never be in the running for the championship.
While midfielder Nicolo Fagioli joined Fiorentina on loan in February and was among their finest players in last weekend’s victory against Juventus, former captain Danilo struggled to break into Motta’s starting lineup and left the team in January.
In his debut game as manager, Tudor will probably switch from Motta’s 4-2-3-1 to a 3-4-2-1, which the Croatian adopted when he joined Lazio, when they play Genoa at home on Saturday.