Luciano Spalletti Returns To Football With Juventus After Italy Flop

Last Updated:October 31, 2025, 08:44 IST

Luciano Spalletti joins Juventus to replace Igor Tudor, aiming for Champions League qualification after struggles. His debut is against Cremonese, with Juventus seventh in Serie A.

Luciano Spalletti

Luciano Spalletti returned to football on Thursday after being appointed by Juventus to replace the dismissed Igor Tudor.

Juventus has tasked Spalletti, 66, with ensuring qualification for next season’s Champions League, with his contract running until June 30 next year.

If successful, Spalletti will be granted more time to help restore Juventus to the top of Italian football, having been overtaken by fierce rivals Inter Milan and Napoli in recent seasons.

Spalletti was the mastermind behind Napoli’s historic Serie A title in 2023 and has been one of Italy’s most influential coaches over the past two decades, exceeding expectations at Roma and Inter Milan.

His triumph in Naples led Spalletti to tattoo Napoli’s crest on his arm, vowing not to manage another club in Italy after ending a 33-year wait for the Scudetto.

Returning to club football on what would have been Diego Maradona’s 65th birthday, Spalletti comes off a challenging stint as Italy’s coach, a position initially seen as the pinnacle of his lengthy career.

Spalletti’s tenure with Italy ended in ignominy in June, following a disastrous title defence at Euro 2024 and a heavy defeat by Norway in the opening match of the Azzurri’s 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Juventus also find themselves at a crossroads, seeking an identity after several tumultuous years marked by underwhelming on-field results and off-field scandals.

Tudor was brought in last season to rescue Juventus after Thiago Motta was dismissed in March. Motta’s appointment was intended to usher in a new era of free-flowing, successful football following Massimiliano Allegri’s departure.

Spalletti will take charge of a club that reported losses of 58 million euros last season and has been striving for stability behind the scenes since mass boardroom resignations at the end of 2022, which led to a financial scandal and a 10-point deduction the following year.

Former chairman Andrea Agnelli subsequently received two significant bans from the Italian Football Federation and last month was handed a suspended 20-month prison sentence after a plea bargain.

Wednesday’s 3-1 victory over Udinese marked Juventus’s first win since mid-September. The team currently sits seventh in Serie A, six points behind leaders Napoli and Roma.

Spalletti’s first match will be against surprise package Cremonese, who were promoted from Serie B last season and are just one point and place behind Italy’s most successful club after nine matches.

Aakash Biswas

A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had ...Read More

A cricket enthusiast whose dreams of playing for India paved the way for a compelling journey in journalism. With a comprehensive coverage spanning international and domestic cricket across formats, I have had ...

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