Having made over 250 Serie A appearances for Juventus, where playing in midfield alongside the likes of Antonio Conte, Didier Deschamps and Zinedine Zidane, the 47-year-old knows the club’s winning mentality.
Tacchinardi joined Juve from Atalanta in 1994 and left in 2007 for his final playing season with Brescia.
Following managerial roles at lowly Italian clubs, Tacchinardi now frequently appears as pundit and is an avid fan of Juventus.
Quartet in race
The race to secure the final top four berth is hotting up with three league games remaining. Table-topping Napoli and Inter Milan are battling it out to win the Scudetto, with Atalanta comfortably in third place, meaning there’s only a single position left to secure involvement in next season’s Champion League.
Fourth-placed Juventus are in the mix but are level on points with in-form AS Roma and Lazio, with all three teams one point ahead of Bologna.
Juve picked up a precious point last Sunday at Bologna, and will be aiming to come away from Saturday’s showdown at Lazio with maximum points before tackling mid-table Udinese and polishing off the season at relegation-threatened Venezia.
Igor Tudor was installed as interim head coach for nine Serie A games in March, following the debacle of Project Motta that came crashing down after nine months.
Positive thoughts
Tacchinardi, who made 13 international appearances for Italy, spoke to Italian sports newspaper Gazzetta via the website Tuttomercatoweb about this weekend’s crunch clash inside the Stadio Olimpico.
He stated: “The Bianconeri must win the showdown against their direct rivals on Saturday and keep pushing in the last two games.
“I’m confident about the match against Lazio, because I see a Juventus that has found its soul again with Tudor.
“Tudor brings out the best from players who have power and explosiveness. Kolo Muani is talented, but needs to become more ruthless in front of the goal. I’m convinced that Igor will also manage to get Vlahovic scoring again in the final three matches.
“AS Roma are on a positive run and in the best form. The fight for the top four will be intense until the very end.”