Juventus executives and Thiago Motta parted ways with harsh words, setting aside the usual sweet-talking and banal statement regarding the dismissal of the Italo-Brazilian coach. “I am ashamed that I chose you” said technical director Cristiano Giuntoli to Motta in front of general director Maurizio Scanavino. Motta reacted calmly to Giuntoli’s outburst, confirming rumors that he was practically waiting to be fired, as he had no intention of giving up the 300,000 euros per month guaranteed by his contract until June 2027.😳 Giuntoli told Thiago Motta: “I’m ashamed to have chosen you”, according to Gazzetta pic.twitter.com/KiXO5TElXm— Italian Football TV (@IFTVofficial) March 23, 2025 The decision to appoint Igor Tudor as an interim solution until the end of the season—or potentially until after the Club World Cup, which runs from mid-June to mid-July—has sparked new debates and doubts about the club’s management, particularly Giuntoli. There is widespread belief that the club’s executives sacrificed Thiago Motta to save their own positions and that the former coach, through his behavior and reactions, either willingly or unwillingly played into their hands. The last-minute change of plans over the weekend was driven by club owner John Elkann and Juventus fans.Can we just finish stories about Juventus new coach?Elkann was the one who made the final decision to fire Motta, while the fans—through strong pressure on social media and the Juventus fan club network—managed, at least for now, to block Roberto Mancini’s appointment as head coach of Italy’s most successful club. The grandson of lawyer Gianni Agnelli held several meetings and phone calls with Juventus executives, primarily CEO Maurizio Scanavino. After a few days, the conviction grew that continuing with Thiago Motta made Champions League qualification dangerously uncertain. This was especially concerning given Juventus’ ambitions to return to the top of Italian and European football—something impossible without participation in the UCL. In the past two transfer windows, both summer and winter, Juventus spent 234 million on new players. Failing to qualify for the Champions League would not only prevent them from making further investments in the next transfer window but also force them to sell several top players, including those considered key to the club’s future.Motta did it all wrong at JuventusAs for the players, they are relieved that Motta has been sacked. Their already former boss never knew how to handle the locker room, which has become one of the biggest problems he faced and one of the key reasons he was sacked. Usually, footballers are quick to pay their respects to their former coach on their social media accounts, even if they sometimes don‘t mean it. But in Motta‘s case, Juventus players didn‘t even bother to do that. Only two players said ‘goodbye‘ to the coach over social media: Samuel Mbangula and Bremer. The young Belgian was given his senior debut by Motta on the first Serie A match of the 2024-25 season – a 3-0 win over Como with the Belgian scoring the opener. Since his message, only Brazilian defender Bremer joined him with a message on his Instagram story, which read: “Thank you Mister and all of your staff. I sincerely wish you all the best for the future”.2026 WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS – AFRICATuesday16:00: (1.30) Botswana (5.00) Somalia (12.0)19:00: (2.00) Angola (2.90) Cape Verde (4.30)19:00: (4.00) Benin (2.70) S.Africa (2.20)19:00: (1.28) Nigeria (5.40) Zimbabwe (12.0)19:00: (1.53) Rwanda (3.70) Lesotho (7.75)19:00: (3.00) Uganda (2.95) Guinea (2.45)22:00: (1.10) Burundi (10.5) Seychelles (22.0)22:00: (1.35) Cameroon (4.60) Libya (10.5)22:00: (1.17) Egypt (7.25) Sierra Leone (17.0)22:00: (1.35) Sudan (4.60) South Sudan (10.5)00:00: (1.38) Algeria (4.40) Mozambique (10.0)00:00: (1.17) Comores (7.50) Chad (16.0)00:00: (3.20) Mauritania (2.80) Dr Congo (2.60)00:00: (1.30) Senegal (5.20) Togo (11.0)00:30: (1.12) Morocco (9.50) Tanzania (19.0)***odds are subject to changes***
