It had been a week of upheaval for Juventus but, after naming Igor Tudor as their new Coach, the Bianconeri recorded a much-needed victory as they notched a 1-0 win over Genoa.
Juve had taken the decision to replace Thiago Motta after consecutive losses put their hopes of top four finish in jeopardy, with the announcement of Tudor’s arrival discussed at length in this previous column.
The club’s fans were happy to have their former defender back, unveiling a banner in the Curva Sud before kickoff which read “welcome home” to Tudor, who made 174 appearances for Juve between 1998 and 2007.
Having told reporters that he expected his side to be “attentive, focused and determined in every game situation” during a pre-match press conference, it was interesting to see the changes the former Croatia international made in terms of both tactics and personnel.
Igor Tudor “assist” helps Juventus
Gone was the 4-2-3-1 favoured by Thiago Motta, the new boss instead setting his side up within a 3-4-2-1 framework that saw Dušan Vlahović return to the starting XI after being sidelined.
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Behind him were Teun Koopmeiners and Kenan Yildiz, the latter having also been out of favour under Motta while Manuel Locatelli – who Tudor has immediately named club Captain – started in midfield alongside Khephren Thuram.
When the action finally got underway on Saturday, Juve almost made a dream start to their Tudor era, Stefano Sabelli forced into making a last-ditch clearance off the line to deny a Kenan Yildiz diving header.
Teun Koopmeiners forced an effort over the bar after overlooking the far better placed Thuram, before an unexpected turn of events saw Tudor more involved than anyone could’ve predicted.
As the ball went out of play near the Juventus bench, Tudor caught it and quickly tossed it to Koopmeiners. That allowed a rapid throw-in that caught Genoa unprepared, eventually seeing Kenan Yildiz dribble his way through the Genoa defence and firing beyond goalkeeper Nicola Leali.
The goal marked the first time Yildiz’s had found the back of the net in over two months, the Turkey international thriving in a more central role having struggled to adapt to being out on the wing under Motta.
Leali would then make a save to deny a left-footed effort from Vlahovic, followed by another to keep out a Pierre Kalulu header following a corner, while skipper Locatelli then tested the ‘keeper with a long range strike of his own.
Tim Weah had a chance to score with the final kick of the game after good work from Thuram, but the game would ultimately end 1-0 as Tudor’s tenure got off to a winning start.
Tudor “satisfied” by debut Juventus victory
“I am very satisfied, because Genoa are a strong side who are doing well, they fight hard, and we were coming off a difficult period,” the Coach would tell DAZN shortly after the final
“We only had two or three training sessions and clearly the enthusiasm is boosted, but there’s only so much you can do on a tactical and psychological level. Now we can rest for one day then finally get to a whole week of hard work with the full squad at our disposal.”
They will need to be prepared for much tougher challenges, starting with next week’s trip to the capital where they face AS Roma, but Juventus can be very pleased with how they have started life under Igor Tudor.