Three league games remain with just a single point dividing a quartet teams who are frantically chasing the financial riches of Champions League involvement next season. Finishing inside the top four of the Italian top tier will result in playing in the highly lucrative competition.
Fourth-placed Juventus will no doubt be going full throttle for victory at Lazio, who sit two places behind the Bianconeri because of inferior goal difference.
When the wheels fell off Project Motta, with hefty back-to-back defeats to rival highflyers, Juve pulled the plug. As well as discontent among fans, pundits and some of the dressing room, the club lacked faith in Thiago Motta to secure Champions League soccer.
Picking up maximum points became a problem under ex-Bologna boss Motta, so he was swiftly replaced by Igor Tudor.
Tudor, a tough-talking Croatian who played in defence for Juve and had one season as assistant manager for the Turin titans before getting the boot, is back. He answered the SOS call from Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli in late March, and has steadied the sinking ship.
He has experienced the club’s winning mentality, which was partly the reason he was picked over former Italy boss Roberto Mancini.
The objective for Tudor was straightforward, nine Serie A matches to pick off a top four finish. His pressing style and back three has not been thrilling to watch, yet Juve lie comfortably in fourth with three Serie A matches to navigate.
No banana skin
Tudor's only blip since his return was the shock 1-0 defeat at lowly Parma. This month's trip to relegation-threatened Venezia, for Juve's final game of the campaign doesn’t appear to be another banana skin.
Venezia’s last victory was a 1-0 success over basement side Monza. By the time that they host Juve, the bottom three could already be determined.
Lazio, who also trail their capital rivals AS Roma on goal difference, have better results on the road than on home turf. Tudor can take heart that Lazio’s form inside the Stadio Olimpico is patchy.
Although Lazio head coach Marco Baroni has only suffered two home league losses, they have become draw specialists on their own patch. Since they thumped Monza 5-1 in mid-February, Lazio have netted five stalemates on the bounce.
Lazio last kept a home clean sheet when they thrashed Bologna 3-0 in December, but this calendar year their defense has been their weakest link. They almost came unstuck in their last home game, but bounced back from a 2-0 half-time deficit to score a 2-2 stalemate.
Juve came out of the traps at Bologna last Sunday, and will surely be aiming to unnerve Lazio in the same manner.
Talks trigger
Tudor’s future at Juve is reliant on steering the club into next term’s Champions League. A top four finish triggers initial talks with the club hierarchy about a one-year deal to be appointed on a permanent basis.
Failure to do so and Giuntoli could be appointing his third head coach in two years. Giuntoli will be under immense pressure should Tudor not deliver Champions League soccer, and he could well be shown the exit door despite signing a five-year contract.
He handpicked Motta from Bologna, while Max Allegri was still at the helm, and surprisingly allowed the new boss carte blanche to make sweeping changes in the summer.
A plethora of players have excelled since leaving Juve, while numerous signings have underwhelmed. Those arriving in the winter window were all exiled by their respective clubs. Many of Motta’s transfer decisions at Juve have turned out to be disastrous, and that reflects badly on under-pressure Giuntoli.
Financial fiasco
The Italian giants know that it will be a fiasco financially if they are not competing in Europe’s top club competition next season. Without the monetary muscle and being able to offer leading players Champions League soccer, a cut-price rebuilding project will be required.
That could result in Juventus stuck in the doldrums for some considerable time, unless they can find a manager who can perform minor miracles to compete at the top of the Serie A table with the usual suspects of AC Milan, Atalanta, AS Roma, Inter Milan, Lazio and Napoli.
Lazio slipped up in their final few Serie A games last season, when Tudor was at the helm, and failed to clinch any European soccer. Should Lazio or Juventus bag maximum points on Saturday, it could mean that history is repeating itself for either the Rome-based club or 47-year-old Tudor.
An uncertain future at Juventus hangs in the balance for so many people until the club discovers their fate in next year’s Champions League.
Back-up plans
Regardless of the outcome, Giuntoli has been ambitiously scouring Europe for players in most positions. He has wisely lined up some back-up plans for lesser-known personnel to potentially join.
There is unlikely to be a mass exodus of the current squad if Juve finish outside the top four in Serie A. They will not need to sell as there’s plenty of money coming from their participation at the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup finals.
Defensive duo Andrea Cambiaso and Federico Gatti, midfield pair Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram, plus strikers Dusan Vlahovic and Kenan Yildiz are all on the radar of top Premier League clubs.
Juventus, if they can net maximum points at Lazio, will be in pole position to finish in the top four. The quartet of AS Roma, Bologna, Juve and Lazio are in the chase to secure the last Champions League berth, with the Scudetto between table-topping Napoli and Inter Milan plus Atalanta sitting five points clear of fourth-placed Juventus.
Final furlong
The final run-in means that Juventus have the best games on paper to pick up precious points. A loss to Lazio may feel catastrophic, but the joy of following soccer is the unpredictability and they could still earn a Champions League berth.
There are key matches where results may favor Juve, including AS Roma vs. Atalanta (12 May) and Inter Milan vs. Lazio (18 May).
A win at Lazio should have Juve buzzing ahead of hosting mid-table Udinese on 18 May. Seven days later they will conclude their rollercoaster season at Venezia.
With the Club World Cup finals kicking off in mid-June, and numerous loan extensions implemented, it seems Tudor will be in charge for the tournament.
Whether Tudor remains at Juventus could rest on achieving a positive result at Lazio, although other games between now the final whistle on 25 May could see twists and turns in the Champions League chase.