Juventus’ defeat to AC Milan on Sunday left the Bianconeri outside the UEFA Champions League spots with three games left to play this Serie A season. Questions have been asked since regarding the future of head coach Andrea Pirlo, but he is set to stay – for now.
According to a report by Goal, Juventus have decided to continue with Andrea Pirlo as their head coach until the end of the season. The news comes in the wake of another defeat, which left the Bianconeri outside the top four with three games more to play. The Italian giants had won the league title nine years in a row before the current season and reached two Champions League finals.
The failure to defend the Italian crown automatically makes the current season Juventus’ worst in a decade. However, further embarrassment could be on the horizon for the Super League founders, who now risk missing out on the Champions League next season. Furthermore, they also risk expulsion from Serie A should they continue to be involved in the Super League. Juventus, one of the founding members of the exclusive tournament, are one of only three sides still standing firm on their decision to form a breakaway league.
In the midst of what can be termed as a crisis, the Juventus hierarchy has decided to trust Pirlo to finish the season positively. They will give him three more games, at least, instead of sacking him and appointing his assistant Igor Tudor in his place on an interim basis.
Pirlo’s first year in management hasn’t gone according to plan. The appointment of the Italian as the Juventus head coach raised eyebrows immediately, given that he had returned to the club as the coach of the U-23s just weeks ago. So far, the Old Lady has been defeated six times in the league, with the latest one pushing her out of contention for Europe’s premier competition. Juventus and Pirlo have three games to save their season, albeit that is not an easy task, given that those matches are against Sassuolo, Inter Milan, and Bologna. Pirlo’s future at the club could well depend on those three matches.