Spalletti: I believe we can turn Juventus into title contenders

TURIN, Italy (AP):

New Juventus coach Luciano Spalletti believes he can turn things around at the Italian club in the short amount of time he has been given and even compete for the Serie A title.

Spalletti replaced Igor Tudor on Thursday when the former Napoli and Italy coach signed an eight-month contract.

Tudor was fired on Monday following three straight losses and an eight-match winless run that dated to September 13. The slide ended on Wednesday with a 3-1 win over Udinese under interim coach Massimo Brambilla.

Spalletti’s first match in charge will be at Cremonese in Serie A today. Juventus then host Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League three days later.

“If I didn’t believe that this team has potential, has possibilities, even though it has also gone through difficult times, why would I have accepted an eight-month contract?” Spalletti said yesterday in his first press conference.

“So I believe I can do a good job with them. Then you go from there: from availability to desire to self-discipline, to achieve important results, and I see the chance to fix some things.”

Juventus have not won Serie A since 2020 when they concluded a run of nine straight titles.

The team is seventh in the standings, six points behind leaders Napoli and Roma.

In the Champions League, Juventus have drawn two and lost one and sit in the elimination places.

“I hope to be able to get back into the (Serie A) title race,” Spalletti said. “Why not? It’s what we were discussing with the players yesterday. We must aim for the top, and in this case, the top is the title race.

“Nine games have been played, there are still 29 to go and that’s a lot of games to go. I’ve seen it all in my 30-odd years in the profession. I’ve been lucky enough to follow this path here, I don’t see why I should settle, just because I’m old,” he added with a laugh.

The 66-year-old Spalletti is best known for leading Napoli to the 2023 Serie A title. Then he had an unsuccessful run with Italy and was fired in June when the Azzurri got off to a poor start in World Cup qualifying.

Spalletti has also coached Empoli, Sampdoria, Venezia, Udinese, Ancona, Roma, Zenit St Petersburg and Inter Milan.

Spalletti is Juventus’ third full-time coach since Massimiliano Allegri was fired in May 2024. Including caretakers, he’s the club’s fifth coach in that span.

Thiago Motta was fired by Juventus in March and replaced by Tudor, who helped the club secure a Champions League spot with a fourth-place finish last season.