The 9 incidents that broke Juventus rapport with Thiago Motta | OneFootball

Juventus have given their backing to Thiago Motta after back-to-back disastrous defeats, but nine incidents ruptured his rapport with the squad.

The Bianconeri face an uphill struggle now to finish in the top four of Serie A following their 4-0 loss to Atalanta and 3-0 away to Fiorentina.

On top of that, they crashed out of the Champions League to PSV Eindhoven and the Coppa Italia to Empoli.

La Gazzetta dello Sport went over nine moments that damaged the unity between the squad and their coach, identifying where it all went wrong.

Vlahovic row

Dusan Vlahovic is not new to lashing out at his Juventus coaches for putting too many defensive and tactical demands on him, along with the lack of decent service he receives upfront.

Thiago Motta is less ready than most to listen to these complaints and reportedly gave the Serbia international a dressing down ahead of the Supercoppa Italiana in Riyadh in January, after which he was effectively dropped for new signing Randal Kolo Muani.

O captain my captain

Juventus fans have been frustrated at the lack of clarity this term, including who wears the prestigious captain’s armband.

It has been shuffled around six different players, including new buy Teun Koopmeiners and a Weston McKennie who until the start of the campaign was meant to be on his way out.

Supporters are pushing for Federico Gatti to get the honour, but so far he is one of the few players not taken into consideration.

Danilo betrayal

MILAN, ITALY – OCTOBER 27: Thiago Motta, Head Coach of Juventus, interacts with his players Danilo and Nicolo Fagioli during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and Juventus at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on October 27, 2024 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)

Danilo had been the Juventus captain, until he was unceremoniously dropped to the bench and eventually pushed out of the club entirely in January.

Cambiaso broken

Andrea Cambiaso has been struggling with a recurring ankle injury and some feel he has been rushed back into action, making it difficult for him to perform at the required levels.

Douglas Luiz flop

Signed from Aston Villa for €50m, Douglas Luiz has been little short of a disaster at Juventus, making costly errors and giving practically no positive contributions.

He started two of the first eight Serie A games and has since practically vanished, with Motta only succeeding in sapping his confidence further.

Fagioli’s revenge

Nicolò Fagioli was the star performer when Fiorentina beat Juventus 3-0, showing precisely what the Old Lady had let get away from them in January. The fans were really not happy with the way the midfielder was treated by Motta.

Juventus merry-go-round

epa11889200 Juventus’ Weston McKennie (L) celebrates with his teammates after scoring the 1-0 goal during the UEFA Champions League play-offs first leg soccer match between Juventus FC and PSV Eindhoven, in Turin, Italy, 11 February 2025. EPA-EFE/ALESSANDRO DI MARCO

In 42 competitive matches played this season, there have been 39 different starting line-ups. Thiago Motta reshuffled his pack with different tactical systems, players in surprising new roles, including Koopmeiners, McKennie and Tim Weah seemingly playing everywhere except in goal.

Perin irritated

Mattia Perin had received several offers to leave Juventus and play regularly, so was expecting rather more consideration than to be understudy to Michele Di Gregorio.

Kenan Yildiz wasted

On top of being moved around in different roles, Kenan Yildiz was also surprisingly picked to start the big match with Atalanta, despite being in doubt with a stomach bug for days beforehand.

He was clearly in no fit shape to play and was hauled off at half-time, a costly error from Thiago Motta, who then left him on the bench throughout the mauling in Florence.