And finally, it officially concludes.
For [Juventus](https://www.blackwhitereadallover.com), the 2024-25 season is now technically, decidedly over — and why not another disappointing couple of losses to wrap things up. Juventus finished their Club World Cup participation with back-to-back defeats against European elite, getting throttled by Manchester City in their group stage finale and losing convincingly against Real Madrid in the Round of 16 earlier this week.
Neither defeat was particularly shocking, but they were nevertheless two more examples of how far Juventus is from the cream of the crop in Europe. There were some positives, some negatives and I’m just kind of glad that we don’t have to watch this team play for at least a month and change.
Let’s cook.
### **Hot Seat: Igor Tudor**
I kid, I kid.
Tudor’s job is not in jeopardy because of a mediocre participation in the Mickey Mouse Summer Fun Festival Club Invitational. I have mentioned before in this space that I’m not particularly convinced by Tudor’s appointment. He has zero track record of consistent success at any stop of senior level football where he’s coached and the early returns of his era have been middling at best.
The last couple of games did little to assuage my concerns.
Against Manchester City, Tudor elected to rotate his squad and played a B side lineup against one of the more talented teams in the world. This was a game in which first place in the group was in play and more importantly, a significantly more manageable draw in the knockout rounds as this was essentially a game to not play Real Madrid in the next match.
_(Could they have bottled it against Al-Hilal just as Manchester City did? Absolutely, but you had to like their chances better against the Saudi side instead of the draw they ended up getting.)_
I understand giving your players rest, but wouldn’t it have made infinitely more sense to do said rotation against Wydad in your second game instead of against your toughest opponent? I understand trying to get Teun Koopmeiners and Dusan Vlahovic going after horrendously disappointing seasons. Is that easier to accomplish against the Al Ains of the world or against a team that is a candidate to win everything next season?
We started the artist formerly known as Filip Kostic for crying out loud. If that isn’t waving a white flag, what is? Juventus got worked and lost 5-2 — which is honestly kind of charitable considering how the majority of the game went. Would they have lost playing their best lineup? Perhaps, but this felt like a game that Juventus kinda threw away for no real reason.
To Tudor’s credit, Juventus played their best lineup against Real Madrid and submitted a pretty decent first half against the Spanish giants. With a makeshift backline, the team was disciplined in the back, giving Real Madrid few chances in attack and was quick to transition as they were consistently dangerous in the counter, getting close to scoring a couple of times.
To Tudor’s discredit — is that a word? — Xabi Alonso bodied him on the second half. By switching Aurélien Tchouaméni to a more forward position and beefing up his midfield, _Los Blancos_ took complete control of the game and scored early in the second half. The move left Real Madrid more vulnerable in the back, but Juventus never really took advantage of that weakness and could barely hold the ball as they got completely blown out in the second half.
Yes, Real Madrid has a significantly more talented and deep team than Juventus. Losing against them is not necessarily surprising or unexpected, but it was telling that Tudor never really recovered tactically from Xabi Alonso’s halftime adjustment and seemed like a team that had no Plan B.
_(No better example of this disparity than Juventus subbing in the reanimated corpse of Kostic in the second half while Real Madrid dusted off Kylian freaking Mbappe for their troubles. Cardiff seems pretty long ago, huh?)_
Every substitution made by Juventus was a like for like change and even in the dying minutes with the game still within one goal, Tudor refused to deviate from his set formation. Even bringing a center back, Federico Gatti, instead of making a last-ditch attempt to tie the game. It sure felt like decisions that signaled being OK with the loss because it looked decent on the scoresheet instead of risking something and going for the upset.
_(I’m not the biggest fan of Vlahovic, everyone knows that, but if the team doesn’t trust him to run for 10 or 15 minutes and maybe get a desperation shot off, what are we doing here?)_
Despite the relative importance — or lack thereof — of this competition, these couple of games were the first true test of Tudor’s era against upper echelon rivals. Consider me ... unconvinced.
### **High and Low**
Not to say there weren’t a few bright spots in these last couple of games.
Michelle Di Gregorio was an absolute wall as he reminded everyone how talented he is as a natural shot stopper. Despite allowing seven goals overall, the scorelines could have been significantly worse without his contributions. After an up-and-down debut season for Juventus, this tournament should leave Di Gregorio in high spirits for his sophomore effort and the _Bianconeri_ faithful, confident that the goal is in good hands.
Kenan Yildiz also looked every bit the star in the making we know he can become during Juve’s matches at the Club World Cup. Andrea Cambiaso looked more like first half Cambiaso rather than his second half version. Manuel Locatelli shocked me with his smarts and vision against Real Madrid — the way he played one on one situations against Vini Jr. reminded me of a seasoned and natural defender, decidedly not something he could have pulled off when he first signed with Juventus.
Khephren Thuram remains an absolute joy to watch and his partnership with the Locatelli gets better by the day. I expect huge things from the Frenchman next season. Alberto Costa — Cristiano Giuntoli’s mistery man — got an extended run of play and looked fairly decent! He was hit or miss against Real Madrid, but for a guy that young in his first real test, I thought the good outweighed the bad.
Lastly, Daniele Rugani was perfectly decent when thrown into a big situation and I can think of a lot worse options to have for a backup defender. I really hope Juventus doesn’t exile him for the third time in his career.
Now, for the bad.
Look, I don’t want to end this article on a bummer. Let’s just say the less we talk about Vlahovic, Koopmeiners, Kostic, Nico Gonzalez, Lloyd Kelly and Douglas Luiz, the better ...
OK, there’s just a little bit of a bummer.
At what point do you just cut your losses with Koopmeiners, Gonzalez and Luiz? I know we spent a gazillion euros on those guys less than a year ago, but the performances we saw from Gonzalez and Koopmeiners in the last two games of the Club World Cup was laughably terrible. And Douglas Luiz couldn’t even get on the field! If Tudor continues to play his current setup, there’s way too much depth for two nominal central midfielders. I hate to give up on theoretically talented players so early, but it has been brutal so far.
### **Parting Shot of the Week**
As we transition to the summer break, we are back to everyone’s favorite time of the year: Rumors and rumors galore! As always, remember that nothing is official until Fabrizio Romano reports it and that no titles are ever won in the summer months.
Everyone was super excited last year at this time — let Giuntoli cook, remember? But, hey, if I can get Vlahovic out of my life and god willing Nico Gonzalez, too, I’ll be a happy camper.
See you in the summer.