Tudor tempers expectations ahead of Roma clash
Juventus is still a work in progress, newly-appointed head coach Igor Tudor said, as his team prepares to face in-form Roma at Stadio Olimpico on Monday (AEST).
Tudor won his first match as Juve manager against Genoa last time out, with Kenan Yildiz's goal enough to keep it in the race for the top four in Serie A.
But it faces a stern test against Claudio Ranieri's team this weekend, with Roma winning its past seven games in the Italian top-flight.
Juve is fifth heading into this weekend's action, and Tudor conceded that he did not realise the magnitude of the club's situation when taking the reins.
"I found the team in a bad moment. Now we have picked ourselves up and started to pedal. How much time will it take? I don't know and no one can know," Tudor said.
"All life is a test. I expect a difficult match like everyone else in Serie A. You never make calculations in football. You have to give everything you have."
Juve is unbeaten in eight, winning four of its past nine league games against Roma, with the Giallorossi's only win in that period in the top-flight coming in March 2023.
While Juve has a favourable record in this fixture, Tudor said it would not be a decisive match in the race for the top four, with eight matches of their season left.
"It's an important match, but not decisive.
"We will face a team with a very good run of results," he added.
"We want to think about ourselves and do the things we're working on."
Tudor credited Roma's excellent form in the league to Ranieri, saying: "Ranieri has made the difference.
"There are difficulties everywhere, because they have strong players."
Tudor said Douglas Luiz and Andrea Cambiaso have returned from injuries and will be on the bench for the match, adding that Juventus will soldier on despite key defender Federico Gatti being sidelined with a calf bone fracture.
"It's a very important absence, but let's not cry. There are others who will take his place," he said.
Roma has won eight Serie A matches in a row on four occasions, but has not done so since between January and March 2016, when Luciano Spalletti was in charge.
Tudor himself is looking to become the fourth Juve coach in Serie A history to win both of his first two games in charge, having replaced another manager in the same season.
The manager to achieve the feat most recently was Ciro Ferrara in May 2009, with Carlo Ancelotti in 1999 and Teobaldo Depetrini in 1957 the other two on that list.
