IT seems an age since Juventus were adding to their honours list on an annual basis; you have to go back to 2020 for their last scudetto, the final triumph in a nine-year stretch at the top. In 2025-26, they finished sixth, two places below their 2024-25 position and 18 points behind champions Inter Milan. At no point were Juve in contention for the title and their performance in domestic and European cup competitions was somewhat disappointing.
Since their last golden period, the club has been penalised for financial irregularities and in 2023, Andrea Agnelli, chairman since 2010, stepped down. There has been considerable instability in the management of the team and the club still has a high degree of debt.
In 2025-26, Juve started the season with Igor Tudor as coach, but he departed in late October to eventually be replaced by Luciano Spalletti. The first half of the league campaign was disastrous for Juve but Spalletti turned things around and they lost just once in their last 12 matches. Juve lost only seven Serie A games, but they drew 12 of their 38 games. They scored just 61 goals, conceding 34. While they beat Inter Milan, Napoli and Roma at home, they were unable to secure victories away from Turin against the top clubs.
One player who stood out was Kenan Yildiz, who scored 10 Serie A goals and was named the club’s player of the year as well as Serie A’s rising star of the season. The 21-year-old Turkish winger is one of Europe’s hottest properties at the moment and is valued at around € 90 million, but his contract runs to the summer of 2030. Although he is one of the best left-wingers around, Juventus still need a goalscoring striker. Although Italy were absent for a third successive World Cup, Juventus were still represented in the squads of Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Netherlands, Portugal, Turkey and USA.
Juventus were humiliated in the Champions League when they were beaten 5-2 in the knockout play-off by Galatasaray, although they reduced the deficit in the second leg. In the league phase, they lost once, going down to a single goal by Real Madrid.
Spalletti (67) has vast experience and has won league titles in Italy and Russia. He has coached nine Italian clubs, including Inter, Roma, Napoli and AC Milan. He has also managed Italy. The Juventus job is arguably one of Italy’s toughest, not least because of the level of expectation. Can he make Juve title contenders again in 2026-27?
Photo: Isaac Maffei, via Unsplash
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