How Thiago Motta’s Juventus project failed in less than 300 days | OneFootball

Thiago Motta’s stint at Juventus lasted less than 300 days: here’s how his project at the Allianz Stadium failed and why he may not be the only one to pay a high price for a depressing season.

Juventus announced Motta’s appointment on June 12, 2024, and 284 days later, the ex-Italy international is practically sure to be sacked and replaced by Igor Tudor.

Motta signed a three-year contract at the Allianz Stadium barely nine months ago and was chosen to lead a long-term project that would, on paper, quickly make Juventus credible title contenders again. Clearly, things didn’t work out as the coach and the club expected.

Juventus were eliminated from the Champions League and Coppa Italia by PSV and Empoli and are currently one point below fourth-placed Bologna in Serie A. The Bianconeri have conceded seven goals and scored none in Motta’s last two games in charge, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Juventus had had an unconvincing start to the season, getting way too many draws, but at least they had not lost a league match until January 25, 2025, when they suffered a 2-1 away defeat at Napoli.

Victories over Manchester City and RB Leipzig in the first part of the season appeared to suggest that Juventus’ glass was half full despite being pretty far from the leading Serie A group, Inter, Napoli, and Atalanta.

Francisco Conceicao RB Leipzig-Juventus goal (Photo by Maja Hitij/Getty Images)

The win in Leipzig in October was particularly meaningful as Juventus showed an attitude they had never had in recent years. Gleison Bremer suffered a season-ending injury early in the first half, and despite being reduced to ten men after the break, the Bianconeri recovered from one goal down to claim a 3-2 win.

Motta and the players massively celebrated on the pitch, and the coach seemed to have instilled a positive and attacking mentality that the whole team enjoyed.

However, the Bianconeri were never really consistent across all competitions. A 2-0 win over Manchester City in the Champions League in December was followed by a 2-2 home draw against strugglers Venezia only three days later. Even Cagliari and Parma, who are currently involved in the race for survival, managed to get a point in Turin in the first part of the campaign.

Motta and Juventus’ glass really started to dry up at the beginning of 2025 when the Old Lady was eliminated from the Supercoppa Italia semis by a Milan side that had appointed Sergio Conceiçao just a few days earlier.

Internal disagreements with a dressing room leader like Danilo and the reluctance to give Nicolò Fagioli consistent playing time led to the players’ exit in January. Danilo’s departure left Juventus without an experienced figure inside the dressing room after Wojciech Szczęsny and Federico Chiesa were given their marching orders during the summer.

The lack of leaders was also reflected by the fact that Motta didn’t choose a captain until the new year, when Danilo’s exit led to Manuel Locatelli receiving the armband.

Federico Gatti initially replaced Danilo as Juventus’ captain, but then Motta changed his mind, giving the armband to many other players, including the struggling Teun Koopmeiners and even Weston McKennie, who had been frozen out of the team during the summer before accepting a contract extension to 2026.

TURIN, ITALY – FEBRUARY 11: Thiago Motta, Head Coach of Juventus, looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Knockout Play-off first leg match between Juventus and PSV at Allianz Stadium on February 11, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Motta insisted that Juventus had “many leaders” inside the dressing room, but, in truth, he felt like the only legitimate Juventus commander and ultimately paid a high price for it.

Not all players were happy with how Danilo and Fagioli had been treated, and more discontent emerged in the second part of the campaign.

The most obvious example is Dusan Vlahovic, Juventus’ leading scorer, who has only started one Serie A match since the start of 2025 and following Randal Kolo Muani’s loan move from PSG.

Vlahovic and Motta argued during the break of Juventus-Milan in the Supercoppa in January, and the Serbian forward has only played 455 minutes in 2025, starting just four games across all competitions, twice when Kolo Muani was unavailable.

The real troubles began in the new year when draws turned into defeats rather than victories. Champions League playoff elimination against PSV and a “shameful” – as Motta called it – Coppa Italia exit at the hands of Empoli suggested Motta was losing control on and off the pitch.

COMO, ITALY – FEBRUARY 07: Dusan Vlahovic of Juventus looks on during the Serie A match between Como 1907 and Juventus at Stadio G. Sinigaglia on February 07, 2025 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Tactical confusion dominated Juventus’ games across the last month, and this week’s meetings, first between Motta and Cristiano Giuntoli and then between the Juventus management and club owner John Elkann, led to Motta’s sacking even if Giuntoli had confirmed the trust in the coach only a week earlier.

The 52 points earned by Motta in 29 Serie A matches are the worst Juventus result in the last 13 years and their 4-0 defeat against Atalanta was Juventus’ heaviest home loss since 1967.

Furthermore, in this season alone, Juventus have spent as much as they did in four years under Massimiliano Allegri and three under Antonio Conte, suggesting that the club did all they could to match his needs.

Nevertheless, directors, especially Giuntoli, naturally share part of the responsibility for Juventus’ poor results and management. Douglas Luiz, Teun Koopmeiners and Nico Gonzalez are among the new signings who have failed to justify their hefty price tags, while others who left, especially Nicolò Fagioli and Dean Huijsen, are starting to fulfil their potential away from Turin.

Motta will pay the highest price for now, and while Igor Tudor will be tasked with turning the situation around in the last nine games of the season, others may be held accountable for a depressing season that will surely end without trophies and can only be partially saved with a top-four finish.