It’s been a while since Juventus fans have seen three points. You have to go back to a 24 March, 4-1 victory over AS Roma to find a match where the club walked away the better side. Since that match the club have spiraled out of control, losing a match to Genoa and drawing the other six matches in the process.
The Turin club who at one time were the closest challenger to Inter Milan, have been a shell of their former selves of late. Fights in the dressing room and on the pitch added more and more pressure on manager Claudio Ranieri’s job. With only a point separating the club from fourth placed Juventus with two matches remaining, the hierarchy knew the needed something drastic to shock the squad back to life before their Champions League aspirations disappeared.
So with the season slipping out of their grasp, Juventus did the only thing they could think of: they fired Claudio Ranieri.
Since taking over for Didier Deschamps in 2007, the results under Ranieri have been relatively poor. Ranieri was at the helm of this season’s catastrophic collapse and their less-than-stellar Champions League knockout defeat to Chelsea, and at the end of the day, mediocre just won’t do at one of the biggest clubs in the world.
A statement from Juventus stated the obvious: win at all costs to finish the season.
“Ciro Ferrara is the new Juventus coach. Juventus would like to communicate that they have sacked Claudio Ranieri.
“From today, the first team will be handed over, and guided by Ciro Ferrara. Juventus would like to thank Claudio Ranieri for the work he has done in these two years.
“We would like to wish new coach Ciro Ferrara well for immediate success.”
Ferrara, who is a Juve legend in his own right, will be asked to take on the task of keeping Fiorentina at bay over the next two weeks. At this point nothing less than a spot in Champions League will do.
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