Andrea Pirlo directed today’s training session and will remain on the bench for Wednesday’s match versus Sassuolo. The management had a summit last night and decided that the rookie coach will stay at the helm the remaining matches of the season, Repubblica and Sky Sport reports.
Juventus no longer control their own destiny in the Champions League race after being soundly defeated by Milan Sunday. They dropped to 5th place and trail Napoli by one point, Atalanta and the Rossoneri by three. They hold a tie-break only against the Partenopei as a result of the head-to-head matches. They will face Inter and Bologna to close out the season and meet the Bergamaschi in the Coppa Italia final next Wednesday.
The executives believe that a coaching change would not be particularly impactful at this stage. They will ask the players to take ownership of the situation and provide better performances. Pirlo announced that he would not resign yesterday.
The former midfielder has been in peril of being sacked a couple of times in recent months, but the squad always reacted in the following tilt. In this case, he was helped by the short turnaround. Andrea Agnelli has never fired a gaffer during the course of the season in his ten years as president of the club.
Juventus are set to move on from Pirlo at the end of the campaign regardless of the results of the final fixtures. Massimiliano Allegri and Zinedine Zidane are the frontrunners to replace him on the bench, but failing to qualify for the Champions League and a possible shake-up of the front office could affect their plans, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports.