The coach is eager for redemption and appears willing to accept the challenge of reviving the Bianconeri. The offer includes a contract through June and an extension if the team qualifies for the Champions League

Now that Igor Tudor is no longer the coach of Juventus, all that remains is to wait until the end of the match to learn the name of his successor. Strangely enough, the race is still wide open—it’s curious that a club like Juventus didn’t announce the successor at the very moment it announced Tudor’s dismissal—and it’s a race set to be decided in a few hours. Tomorrow night at the Stadium against Udinese, Juventus’s head coach will be Massimo Brambilla from the club’s Next Gen team. Starting Thursday, at Continassa, the club’s coaching reins will be in new hands: Luciano Spalletti is the club’s top choice. The Certaldo-born coach has a great—truly immense—desire to reclaim the spotlight in his own way: to erase the memory of the afternoon of June 29 a year ago—Italy’s scoreless draw against Switzerland in Berlin during the round of 16 of a disastrous European Championship—and to get back on track toward a journey that has, nonetheless, been full of good news and achievements.

Spalletti has already spoken with Juventus, and this morning he will meet in person with the club’s incoming CEO, Damien Comolli: if the two don’t hit an irreconcilable clash on a personal level, the deal could lead to an official announcement. The former Italy national team coach has turned down offers from Turkey and Saudi Arabia—it’s not the right time for him to head abroad—but Juventus’ interest has reignited the passion he once felt: for this reason, the Tuscan coach won’t stand in the way of a potential contract running through the end of the season, with an automatic one- or two-year extension should the team finish in the top four. Spalletti, as an outside observer, has become convinced of the quality of the Bianconeri’s roster because he understands that the team’s potential could be even greater: throughout his career, Luciano has navigated all kinds of formations and challenges, a factor that makes him appreciate the versatility of several of the players at Continassa. Getting back in the game—and doing so with the mission of bringing full meaning to one of the most compelling revolutions currently underway—is, for Spalletti, the challenge he seeks, because remaining on the sidelines only rubs salt into the Azzurri’s wounds. “I’m the one injecting the poison into myself… I let the Italians down, but now I’ve changed,” repeats a man who, at the helm of the national team, would have liked to conquer the world.

the others—  Igor Tudor is leaving on a late-October morning due to his own faults and the failings of others: the failure to provide him with the support of a presence or a voice at the most critical moment left him alone and exposed to the elements. As of yesterday, Juventus is adding the financial burden of a new coach and a new staff to its budget, just as it did last March when Thiago Motta and his staff were shown the door. And Juventus will add—perhaps as early as today—the financial burden of a new contract for the head coaching position in the immediate future: the upcoming capital increase will serve this purpose as well. Luciano Spalletti is in pole position, with the rest of the field reduced to a single row behind him: Raffaele Palladino and, further back, Roberto Mancini are trying to rev up their engines. The former coach of Monza and Fiorentina is on the list of Continassa sporting director François Modesto: Palladino would represent a low-cost gamble, but precisely for this reason, a very risky one at a time when making yet another wrong choice would be unforgivable. Modesto and Palladino worked together in Brianza, and the Juventus executive wouldn’t mind teaming up with him again. Beyond Spalletti comes Palladino, and beyond Palladino comes Mancini: the coach behind the triumph at Wembley during the 2021 European Championship would embrace the Juventus project without hesitation, but the club has not gone beyond a few preliminary inquiries in recent hours.

Champions—  The post-Tudor saga has begun and will end soon—very soon: the accelerated pace leading to Igor’s dismissal is due to a relentless schedule that includes, next Tuesday, the fourth match of the Champions League group stage against Sporting Lisbon at the Stadium—a game they cannot afford to lose if they are to avoid jeopardizing their European campaign after securing just two points from three matches so far. Tudor exits the scene as the Roman night awakens: the loss to Lazio was the result of yet another tactical and individual lapse. “I never take steps backward—I only move forward,” were the Croatian’s final words. The step backward is a resounding one, and Juve’s crisis is evident: Spalletti is ready to take on a challenge that remains to be seen. Luciano from Certaldo is at the top of Comolli’s and his inner circle’s list of candidates: the green light to begin talks came directly from the top, from John Elkann. A decision is expected today, or tomorrow at the latest: the former coach of the disappointing, last-place European Championship team is driven by a desire for redemption against a world that has thrown him into crisis.