The former Italy midfielder impressed during his two seasons at Bologna, leading the Rossoblu to Champions League soccer for the first time after finishing the 2023/24 Serie A campaign in fifth place. He was expected to return Juventus to their glory days during his maiden term.
Motta’s minimum task for this campaign seemed straightforward, being set a top four league berth. After a handful of Serie games this appeared to be plain sailing, because bitter rivals AC Milan and AS Roma made sorry starts.
The first few months saw Juventus slip up by drawing too many matches to become serious Scudetto challengers, but they ended the year unbeaten in Serie A under Motta.
Yet 2025 resulted in a trio of cup upsets. Beaten by AC Milan in their Supercoppa Italia semi-final was easier for fans to stomach than their Champions League exit to PSV Eindhoven and the penalty shootout defeat in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals to understrength Empoli.
Despite Motta’s public apologies on top of criticizing some players, there was an outcry from fans and former players in the media.
Six sides race for Serie A fourth place
With nine league matches remaining, having just tasted heavy defeats without scoring against Atalanta and Fiorentina, Juventus sit fifth and one of six teams chasing fourth place while Atalanta, Inter Milan and Napoli chase the Scudetto.
Everything hinges on Motta eking out as many precious points to potentially save Juve’s season and his job.
Project Motta is a three-year plan, but the 42-year-old will know his coach trip with the Turin titans is very likely to be cut short if he fails to secure Champions League soccer next term.
Although many fans are calling for the former Inter Milan to be sacked, like he was by Genoa in December 2019, there are a plethora of reasons for the Bianconeri to stick with the 42-year-old tactician.
Support from Giuntoli
Cristiano Giuntoli, the Juventus sporting director, was responsible for bringing in Motta. Brazil-born Motta was also garnering interest from AC Milan, but picked the Bianconeri after giving his word despite head coach Max Allegri still having a year remaining on his contract.
Giuntoli has been a strong ally for Motta, and was granted the big bucks to start an overhaul of the squad.
An emergency meeting after the Coppa Italia holders were stunned at home by Empoli resulted in Giuntoli showing strong support for Motta. He has again championed Motta following two league defeats.
With Giuntoli heavily involved in recruitment, Motta’s summer wishlist is ever extending and the money will be there if certain players are offloaded and the club qualifies for the highly-lucrative Champions League.
Possession-style soccer
Allegri’s brand of play in his last stint with Juve lacked excitement, although it did bring silverware with the 2023/24 Coppa Italia. Allegri was sacked two days after that triumph following an uncharacteristic outburst to match officials.
Motta may prioritise defensive compactness, but has been taking more risks with his possession and pressing tactics. At Spezia, Bologna and now Juve his sides have built up play from the back, with frequent short passes in attack.
Dynamic play may be missing with the Bianconeri, because of too many rotations among his squad and enforced injuries, but Motta can deliver an energetic and effective style of play with the right tactics and choice of players.
Instructions need implementing
Juventus are in a perilous position of potentially missing out on next season’s Champions League after the blip of two defeats on the bounce. Prior to these poor performances, the club had put together a five match Serie A winning streak.
With the starting line-up constantly changed, Motta’s messages of how to win matches largely appears to have fallen on deaf ears, although shotstopper Michele Di Gregorio insisted that the players follow the coach’s instructions.
Motta appears to have got the line-ups and tactics wrong when tackling Atalanta and Fiorentina, so can learn from his mistakes and press the reset button. International strikers like Dusan Vlahovic and Kenan Yildiz are biting at the bit to get involved, especially as Juve have recently been so lightweight in attack.
Motta can improve
His tactical prowess is modern, and a breath of fresh air after the underwhelming roles by Andrea Pirlo and Allegri over the past four seasons.
Motta’s brand of soccer takes time, but fans are not patient as they demand success every season.
The club board installed Motta as they believe that Juventus can reap rich rewards under his reign. If their faith remains, and there’s no rumours of a dressing room revolt, they need to remain patient and not pull the trigger. Instead they will need to continue to back under-pressure Motta and give him his required resources during the summer transfer window as Project Motta marches forwards.