It is worth noting that this marks a return to Udine for Luciano Spalletti, where he managed Udinese from July 2002 until the end of the 2004/2005 season. During his three years in Friuli, he oversaw 122 matches from the Bianconeri’s dugout, achieving an average of 1.57 points per game.
In Udine, Spalletti guided Udinese to a 6th-place finish in his first year (securing qualification for the then UEFA Cup), a 7th-place finish the following year, and an extraordinary 4th-place finish and entry into the Champions League play-offs in his final season (as well as reaching the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia).
Subsequently, Spalletti joined Roma’s project