The 42-year-old only tasted his second Serie A defeat this term, his first in Turin, but the Bianconeri’s fans and the club board demand winning trophies.
Juve are effectively out of the Scudetto race, which has been narrowed down to Atalanta, Inter Milan and Napoli. Again Motta had to apologise for a dismal display inside the cauldron of the Allianz Stadium.
The focus for Motta, who only joined the club on a three-year deal last summer, is to ensure that Juventus win an automatic berth to next season’s Champions League.
Without a top four finish the axe could be wielded with Project Motta coming to a sudden halt. He has splashed out over €220 million (US$238m) since his arrival from Bologna, so failure to earn Champions League soccer could end his reign.
Motta, who was recently subjected to an emergency meeting with the club board after their abject Coppa Italia performacne against Empoli, has been heavily criticized by former players, in the media and by the Juventus Ultras.
The former Inter Milan and Italy midfielder was downbeat during the post-match press conference following the crushing 4-0 defeat to Atalanta.
He admitted: “An evening like this is difficult to digest, we are sad and very sorry. “After going behind, the game became much more difficult for us and we didn’t produce the reaction we needed.
“We attacked, but without the right organisation and balance that you need against this type of opposition that pounce on your mistakes and counter-attack with great speed.
“Atalanta deserved the victory, we knew the level of the opponent. We have to learn all the lessons that this match has taught us, and start again thinking about the next match.”
Fiorentina play host to Juventus next Sunday, and it will be imperative for Motta to get back to winning ways having orchestrated five Serie A triumphs on the bounce before being outplayed by Atalanta.