Juventus head coach Igor Tudor oversaw a tepid 2-0 success over Serie A basement side Monza on Sunday, but he surprisingly put a positive slant on the result.
It was another unconvincing performance under the former Juventus defender, yet some results from Sunday and Monday went in favor of the Bianconeri.
With rivals wobbling, Juve can justifiably set their sights on finishing the season in third place as they only lie three points behind Atalanta.
Atalanta’s Gian Piero Gasperini, who has been strongly linked to the Juventus head coach role, will surely be discounted from the highly coveted Juve job if he can’t secure third place in Serie A at the end of the season.
Atalanta were held to a shock 1-1 stalemate at home to lowly Lecce on Sunday, which dented their outside chance of scooping the Scudetto.
The title race is now a straight battle between table-topping Napoli, who have ex-Juventus boss Antonio Conte at the helm, and out-of-form Inter Milan.
With seven sides in the race to finish third and fourth, enough to qualify for next season’s Champions League, two of Juve’s rivals for top class continental competition were stunned on Monday.
Rivals drop points
Bologna missed the opportunity to leapfrog fourth-placed Juventus as they were held to a scoreless draw by rejuvenated Udinese. While Lazio also dropped two points, bravely fighting back from a two-goal deficit at half-time to score a 2-2 draw against relegation-threatened Parma.
Bologna head coach Vicenzo Italiano will be hoping that was just a blip, as he has enjoyed a spectacular first season since taking over the hot seat that was vacated by Thiago Motta’s ill-fated stint at Juventus.
Although since Bologna swept aside Lazio 5-0 in mid-March, the Rossoblu have managed just three goals in five Serie A games. Top scorer Riccardo Orsolini recently bagged his 12th league goal, notching a stoppage-time winner in the 1-0 triumph over Inter.
Juve travel to Renato Dall'Ara Stadium on Sunday, aware that Bologna have only tasted one Serie A defeat this season. Since strugglers Hellas Verona scored a shock 3-2 success at the end of December, Bologna’s home record has been impressive with two draws and eight victories.
Following the Serie A showdown against Bologna, Tudor has a week to prepare his squad for the tricky trip to Lazio and the formidable Stadio Olimpico. Tudor squeezed a credible 1-1 draw inside the capital city when AS Roma played host this month.
Return to Rome
Tudor experienced a short stint at Lazio last term, where he failed to secure any form of European soccer after slipping up with some indifferent results. Lazio were pipped to the post by bitter rivals Roma, and at the end of the campaign he left his role.
Despite having been sacked by Juve as assistant coach to Andrea Pirlo he returned to the dugout after a SOS message from under pressure sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli to steady the ship.
A return to Lazio will be relished by Tudor, where he will take on manager Marco Baroni as they battle it out in a bid to pick up precious points.
Lazio are on a five-match unbeaten run since being thumped in Bologna, and rarely fail to find the back of the net. Their scoring threat to Juve are the trio of Argentinian Taty Castellanos, Senegal international Boulaye Dia and Spaniard Pedro.
Attacking issues remain
Tudor has scoring problems to still sort out as Juve, with striker Dusan Vlahovic sidelined by a thigh injury and Turkish talent Kenan Yildiz suspended for the Bologna and Lazio games following his red card against Monza last weekend. Although Kolo Muani scored against Monza on his first start under Tudor, and was praised by the interim head coach.
Four games to tackle for Tudor, with two matches against teams also chasing a Champions League berth, mean that only positive results matter for Juventus.
The club hierarchy and fans alike will put up with uninspiring displays until the end of the season if it results in a prestigious top four finish.
Tudor’s objective for his nine-game stint was to achieve Champions League soccer, and aside from the financial aspect his reward for achieving this feat will be to enter initial talks about a single season contract as permanent manager.
Tudor seems content to grind out results, with third place behind Inter Milan and Napoli viable. Should he manage that then it would exceed all expectations on his arrival.