As there continues to be head-to-head-matchups between teams in the top six in Serie A, Juventus are set to play one of their final away games of the season Monday night when they face relegation-threatened Parma.
With the Easter holiday arriving on Sunday, Juve interim manager Igor Tudor met with the assembled press a day earlier than is the norm. With it came a congratulatory message for Max Canzi and the Juventus Women squad, who clinched their first Scudetto in three years — and sixth overall since the women’s team was started in 2017 — with Friday night’s win over AC Milan on their home field in Biella.
“First and foremost, let me congratulate Juventus Women, who have won their sixth Scudetto in eight years,” Tudor said. “This is a great achievement. A round of applause to everyone involved; the players, the staff, and the coach. Great job!”
Turning the attention to his own team’s next fixture, Tudor admitted that things won’t be simple and easy against Parma, a side that enters Matchday 33 in 16th place — four points above the relegation zone — and having recorded five straight draws, including ones against league leaders Inter Milan and Fiorentina in back-to-back weekends.
“We’ve had a long week of work which is a positive thing,” said Tudor, whose team has recorded seven points out of a possible nine since he took over for Thiago Motta during the March international break. “We’ve pushed hard to prepare ourselves as best we can for all the pitfalls that a team doing well can present. We’re expecting a difficult match.”
Tudor may have to deal with some interesting decisions in attack come Monday night, with both of his goal scorers from last weekend’s win over Lecce in Turin, Teun Koopmeiners and Kenan Yildiz, dealing with some sort of injuries. Koopmeiners reported pain in his Achilles before his was subbed off in the second half against Lecce, while Yildiz picked up a knock in training earlier in the week.
“In terms of injuries, as well as Samuel Mbangula and Federico Gatti, we’ve had a few minor issues with Kenan Yildiz and Teun Koopmeiners,” Tudor said. “We’ll assess both of them tomorrow, but Teun’s presence in particular is in doubt.”
Another strong performer from last Sunday’s win was Dusan Vlahovic, who recorded an assist on both of Juventus’ goals. With those two assists, Vlahovic is now tied for the team lead with Khephren Thuram with four apiece.
“Dusan Vlahovic’s input is always that to stay in the game, no matter what happens,” Tudor said of the 25-year-old Serbian. “He’s a complete player, his two assists showed us that. The whole team appreciated them and a goal is on its way.”
Continued Tudor: “As for Nico Gonzalez, he’s a cheerful guy, eager, he loves football and being part of the team. He has a positive mentality which is good for everyone, he can play in two or three positions and also has room for improvement: it’s great to have a guy like him in the team. Renato Veiga is a quick-thinking player: he has a great future ahead of him, and that future is in his hands alone.”
One issue that has transferred over from Motta’s time as manager to Tudor’s first three games has been Juventus’ ability to defend set pieces. Both of the goals that Juventus have allowed during Tudor’s time as manager — one against Roma and another against Lecce — have come off set pieces.
“Set pieces? Clearly this is a focus for us, but it bears repeating that it’s a physiological issue as well,” Tudor said. “We’re lacking a bit of experience and possibly a bit of guile, and we risk paying for this on smaller details like set pieces. We’re working to accelerate growth and the boys are aware of this and willing to do what needs to be done.”
Overall, Tudor seems pleased with what he’s seen from his team so far. As they enter Monday night’s game against Parma alone in fourth place with a two-point advantage over fifth-place Bologna, Juve’s gotten a result in all three of the games in which Tudor has been manager after dropping back-to-back games by a combined score of 7-0 in what proved to be Motta’s final 180 minutes in charge.
“In general, I see that the team is growing, increasing intensity in defense, especially when defending high up the pitch,” Tudor said. “But the positive thing is that there’s a desire to be aggressive in our compactness. I’m expecting a serious game in which we will do what we’ve practiced. Parma showed us against Inter that they are a team to pay close attention to, we mustn’t make any mistakes because they deserved that 2-2 draw.”
