Igor Tudor begins his attempt to bring Juventus into the Champions League against Genoa on Saturday while Napoli welcomes AC Milan with their Battle of Serie in Title with Inter Milan entering the house. Juventus seated a point and a place in front of the first four Italians before the return of the club’s action, and Tudor was responsible for returning the “old lady” where they feel that they belong after having dismissed Thiago Motta during the international break. Tudor, who spent most of his player career in Juve, was hired until the end of the season and the former Croatia midfielder will probably be replaced by a larger name before the start of next season.
Antonio Conte, Roberto Mancini and Gian Piero Gasperini are some of the names that have been launched to direct the last line of long attempts to win back the Scudetto and put a period of scandal and financial pain behind them.
But although Tudor has had a modest and nomadic career as a coach, there could be good omens for Juve of his most recent job as the owner of the goalkeeper in Lazio.
Tudor took over at Lazio at the same time of last season after the resignation of Maurizio Sarri, and after beating Juventus in his first game ended the season with 18 points in his nine games in charge.
This total of points was no longer low than that of Atalanta, which won 22 during the same period, and at Inter Milan which won its 20th League Crown.
Juve hopes that Tudor will be able to have the same effect this season, with a field of clubs crowded to the ninth place Milan bidden for a place in the Champions League.
Milan has been in a turmoil since the start of the campaign, but could have his say in the destination of the Scudetto with their confrontation at Napoli Off-Forte potentially giving local rivals Inter a push towards a second triumph of the consecutive championship.
Napoli has only collected eight points since the end of January and is three behind the Inter leaders, who welcome Udinese on Sunday evening before the first of the two derbies in Milan in the Italian Cup semi-finals on Wednesday evening.
Inter has a huge month to come when Simone Inzaghi’s team also faces a quarter -final of the Titanic Champions League with Bayern Munich and delicate devices with Bologna and Roma in shape that could be crucial for their defense of the title.
Inzaghi will miss the key players Lautaro Martinez and Denzel Dumfries to an injury this weekend, but Federico Dimarco of the Star squadron recovered from a thigh problem.
Atalanta, who is still in the six -point fight in third, will face what is probably a fun element of Fiorentina with midfielder Lynchpin Ederson and the suspended Gasperini coach.
Player to watch: Tijjani Reijnders
The midfielder of the Netherlands, Reijnders, was one of the rare light points of a terrible season for Milan, with 13 goals and three assists giving something to disgruntled fans.
The 26 -year -old will start in Napoli after adding another goal to his count of the season in a quarter -final of the League of Nations with Spain, and he will be the key to Milan’s chances on Sunday evening.
Milan is six points behind Bologna and still in contact with the champions League squares thanks to the magic performance of the Reijnders against the Como just before the international break, which appeased the supporters at home who are in revolt against the American owners of the Redbird Club.
Key statistics
7 – The number of goals that Juve has conceded in their last two games with Atalanta and Fiorentina.
6 – Only six points separate Bologna and Milan separated in the race for the Champions League.
Lights (times GMT)
SATURDAY
Como against Empoli, Venezia against Bologna (1400), Juventus V Genoa (1700), Lecce V Roma (1945)
Sunday
Cagliari V Monza (1030), Fiorentina V Atalanta (1300), Inter Milan V Udinese (1600), Napoli V Ac Milan (1845)
Monday
Verona V Parme (1630), Lazio against Torino (1845)
(This story has not been published by NDTV staff and is automatically generated from a unionized flow.)
Subjects mentioned in this article
