Juventus head coach Andrea Pirlo has no intention to leave the club after the Bianconeri suffered a heavy blow to their hopes of Champions League football next year — a miserable 3-0 defeat to Milan at home on Sunday.
The Bianconeri already lost their Serie A crown to bitter rivals Inter Milan. Sunday’s defeat to the Rossoneri threw them down to the fifth spot in the table, one point behind fourth-placed Napoli.
Brahim Diaz scored the opener seconds before half-time, and the lead was further strengthened by Ante Rebic and Chelsea loanee Fikayo Tomori’s late strike – sealing all three massive points at Turin. The embarrassing result also marked the first time Juventus had conceded three goals at home to any Milanese club since January 2010.
In his debut season as a senior squad manager, Andrea Pirlo weathered a dismal campaign with the ‘Old Lady’ winning 30 out of their 47 games in all competitions. This opened the door for Inter to clinch their first domestic title after a decade while the Bianconeris are gasping to grab a top-four spot. Although they booked a place in the Coppa Italia final with Atalanta later this month, Juventus crashed out of Europe in March in the last-16 stage by FC Porto.
But the former midfield maestro insists that he has no plans to step down from his post. In the post-match press conference, he asserted,
“Resign? No, I won’t step aside. I took this role with a great deal of enthusiasm amid certain difficulties. I am at the disposal of the club, there are still three games to go, so I will continue doing my work as long as I am allowed to.”
The Milan result also saw Juve match their worst defensive record since 2010, conceding in each of their last 11 league games. Pirlo, however, has accepted his fault for the club’s underachieving performance this season and revealed that he did not receive what he was promised by his employers,
“I had a different project in my mind and thought I would have a different group at my disposal. I had been working on some concepts, but then I had to make changes in order to suit their characteristics and had to adapt.
“It’s not that this team is resistant to change, but if you have some things in your mind and they become more difficult with certain players. If I cannot get the best out of these players, that is my fault and I certainly need to do better.
“If something didn’t go right, I take responsibility. This squad is made up of great players, clearly something did not work.”
Meanwhile, according to Tuttosport, Juve have already identified Zinedine Zidane as Pirlo’s successor at Turin, with some club officials claiming the Frenchman as an ideal candidate to lead the team forward.
Amid rumours that Zizou is eager to leave Madrid at the end of the season, the Italian media outlet adds that even though his £10.5m wages is a huge obstacle for Turin, the Frenchman can elect to trigger an exit clause in his current deal and resign in June.
But as for now, Juventus are in great danger of missing out on Champions League games next season. Pirlo’s men currently sit in the fifth position with three games remaining and have two immediate heavy challenges – eighth-placed Sassuolo on the road midweek before hosting champions Inter next Saturday.
With the club already in turmoil off the pitch through some financial difficulties and their controversial involvement in the breakaway European Super League, the Bianconeris qualification for the cash cow European tournament makes the upcoming two weeks achingly crucial.
