Igor Tudor was appointed last season with his goal to secure Champions League soccer from nine top tier games. He achieved his task, played hard ball with the Juve board and was selected to continue his good work.
His two-year contract, promoted from interim to permanent manager, kicked off with back-to-back easy wins against relatives minnows in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup.
Then their long-term defensive frailties were exposed with defeats to Manchester City and Real Madrid. The urgency to bolster the squad initially fell on deaf ears.
Yet after their appalling 2-2 stalemate friendly behind closed doors against Serie B side AC Reggiana, suddenly cash-strapped Juventus explored strengthening the side.
The problem was that the club needed to sell, or at least loan out squad members that were surplus to Tudor’s plans. Eventually some were shipped out, including talented Juventus Next Gen graduates, who are doing wonderfully well this term away from Turin.
What seems like panic buys on deadline day, bringing in Lois Openda and Edon Zhegrova, could prove to be a shrewd bit of business or further flops like the Bianconeri experienced last season when the then head coach Thiago Motta splashed the cash.
Tudor’s pre-season preparations, following the Reggiana draw, went wonderfully well and they remained unbeaten entering the Serie A season. To his credit he masterminded a worthy win over tonight’s Champions League opponents Borussia Dortmund, and followed it up by winning silverware at Atalanta.
More silverware will be on his mind, although the squad does still look lightweight despite the creativity of attack-minded players being signed this summer.
Derby d'Italia glory kickstarts Juventus
After the euphoria of winning the Derby d’Italia courtesy of a stoppage time strike to see off star-studded Inter Milan, it is back to the drawing board for Tudor and his troops.
They are brimming with confidence. Having not conceded in labored league triumphs over Parma and Genoa, their latest match was high octane, full of entertainment and drama.
Even the last-gasp goal had to be checked by VAR, with the Thuram brothers caught on camera having a chuckle. They are supreme professionals so there was obviously nothing untoward.
Last season Motta’s reign got off to a similar start, before he concentrated on not losing games as opposed to winning them.
Tudor possesses Juve's winning DNA
Tudor is a former Juve player, and helped land trophies for the club when he was assistant manager to Andrea Pirlo. So he appreciates the Juventus motto about winning being everything.
Dortmund will prove tricky opponents inside Turin’s Allianz Stadium, but the Bianconeri are on the crest of a wave so will be fearless against the German giants.
Juve have been handed the most favorable draw among the four Italian teams contesting the Champions League, so will be expected to breeze into the last 16 knockout stage.
The reality is that they could face one of the big clubs in the last 16, so predicting how they will fare this season is possible but unreliable.
Arsenal, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Napoli, Paris Saint-Germain and Real Madrid are the magnificent seven sides who all anticipate reaching the Champions League final.
Juventus are Champions League outsiders
Inter Milan and Manchester City are notable outsiders, while Juventus will hope to crash the party and keep on achieving impressive results.
Although Juve need to contemplate a more traditional back four, rather than the predictable tactics of three defenders that were exploited by Inter last weekend, they do still need to line up some top players.
Yet any stars will only be attracted to the Turin titans by the opportunity of winning trophies.
Tudor has got the ball rolling and knows the limitations of his squad, with this clash against Dortmund his next chance to test his troops after their mesmerizing victory over Inter that makes Juventus serious Scudetto contenders.