Juventus, one win and it's Champions: in Venice everything is at stake. Conte's shadow on Tudor

Turin, May 19, 2025 – Everything in ninety minutes. Also for the Juve. The black and whites, with the internal success on Udinese, have their destiny in their hands and by winning at Penzo di Venice would qualify for the next Champions League. It is the minimum objective of a difficult season, which would risk becoming a failure without access to the top continental competition. It will be a heart-stopping final day, because the Venice salvation is being played at home, it is two points from the third-last place, with the Lecce who goes to Rome with the Lazio – even the Biancocelesti still hope for the Champions League – and Empoli which houses the Verona. In short, plots at full blast. Juve does not need to tune their radios elsewhere: with three points there is no need to do calculations. And also Tudor he is directly interested because the Champions League would guarantee him an automatic renewal, from which Juve could exit after the Club World Cup to eventually make room for Antonio Tale.  

The games and the plots

There are three matches that concern the fight for the Champions League. As mentioned, the Juve will visit Di Francesco's Venezia, who would have been relegated today and must recover two points, then there will be Toro-Roma at the Olimpico in Turin (will the granata do a 'favor' to the bianconeri?) and finally Lazio-Lecce, with the Salentini safe today but still at risk with Empoli on equal points and Venezia two points behind. The bianconeri still have an advantage: they are masters of their own destiny. With 67 points, one more than Roma and two more than the Lazio, Juve is safe with a victory at Penzo, while the Romans will have to win and hope for a misstep by others. It is a substantial difference that leaves the Bianconeri with greater chances. But there is always an unknown point, a statistic that causes a bit of anxiety. In fact, Juve with Tudor on the bench he has never won away with a score of three draws and one defeat. Having come back in Rome against the Giallorossi, come back in Bologna and come back at the Olimpico against the Biancocelesti, Tudor has never managed to win away from the Stadium and his only defeat, moreover, came against a team fighting for salvation, namely Parma. In short, at Penzo it will be anything but a walk in the park...In the event of a draw, Juve could be overtaken by Roma, if he wins in Turin, while if it were the Lazio to win, therefore on equal points with Juve but without Roma, the direct clash would give fourth place to the Bianconeri.

Tudor: “We’ll have to sweat, as always”

 

A final match that is effectively worth a final. There is no trophy at stake, but the Champions yes and with it 60-70 million more in revenues, which will also be used to make the market and strengthen. In fact, the future of the Juve passes by Penzo, a match that Tudor sees like this: "It will be complicated like all the matches in Serie A and we will have to sweat as always - his words - Let's move forward. The match is prepared the same as the others, we think about what needs to be done. We will fight hard on what needs to be done with the thought of winning". The coach, meanwhile, carries with him the awareness of a victory achieved despite the emergency and playing well. The satisfaction of Tudor: “I'm happy, we played a good match and at the end of the first half I told the lads that all that was missing was the goal. Now there's only one last piece missing, we need to rest well and prepare ourselves”.

The Shadow of Conte

 

Not only Igor Tudor must lead Juve to the Champions League, but also earn trust for the future. This is not an easy operation at all. Access to the first four places, despite the automatic renewal, does not guarantee the Croatian coach's permanence. He will be the one to lead the Juve at the Club World Cup, but the club has held an escape to get out of the contract in case they decide to hire a new coach. Any discussion, therefore, will be postponed until July and it is no mystery that Antonio is the right man Tale, appreciated by Elkann and above all by Chiellini, who will have more and more decision-making power in Juve's future. De Laurentiis he would not want to lose the coach who is leading him to a new Scudetto after Spalletti, and will try to set up a quality market to convince him, but Conte has already sent sibylline messages and the return to Juve tempts him. The turnaround could also involve the management. Calvo has already communicated to Elkann his desire to leave, a new adventure awaits him, perhaps in the Premier League, and Chiellini will increase its weight in the organizational chart, as part of a restoration of Juventus' DNA with two other figures. In addition to the Conte idea, in fact, there is talk of bringing back the other two BBC pillars such as Andrea Barzagli and Andrea Bonucci, two who have made the history of Juve by winning a lot and passing on the black and white DNA until the end. A relaunch, on paper, in great style. Waiting to understand if De Laurentiis will really have to find himself against not only Giuntoli, but also Tale, the Juventus management is also sounding out the market. Investments are needed in all departments, especially in defense and attack. Moving forward, with Vlahovic on the way out, a starting striker is being sought. The Serbian's contract expires in 2026 and will be sold, Juve is asking for at least 40 million, so the offensive dream is called Victor osimhen, with whom Giuntoli has been talking for some time. It remains to be seen whether he can fit in with the possible arrival of Conte, who in fact did not have him at Napoli. Another name is Rasmus hojlund of Manchester United. Read also - Pedro at the end, Inter stopped: Napoli still ahead