Thiago Motta Fired as Juventus Coach. Igor Tudor Named as Replacement

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Atalanta - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 9, 2025 Juventus coach Thiago Motta REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Atalanta - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 9, 2025 Juventus coach Thiago Motta REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo
TT

Thiago Motta Fired as Juventus Coach. Igor Tudor Named as Replacement

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Atalanta - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 9, 2025 Juventus coach Thiago Motta REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Juventus v Atalanta - Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy - March 9, 2025 Juventus coach Thiago Motta REUTERS/Massimo Pinca/File Photo

Thiago Motta was fired as coach of slumping Juventus on Sunday, with Igor Tudor named as a replacement for the rest of the season.
“The club would like to thank Thiago Motta and all of his staff for their professionalism and for the work they have carried out in recent months with passion and dedication,” Juventus said in a statement. “The club wish them the best of luck for the future.
“Juventus FC also announce that the men’s first team will now be led by Igor Tudor, who will take charge of his first training session tomorrow,” the club added.
Juventus conceded seven goals and scored none in its last two Serie A matches — 4-0 and 3-0 losses to Atalanta and Fiorentina, respectively — leaving the record 36-time champion in fifth place and at risk of not qualifying for the Champions League.
Motta, who was in his first season at Juventus after guiding Bologna to a Champions League spot in the last campaign, reportedly lost support of several key players in the changing room over recent weeks as Juventus was eliminated from the Champions League and Italian Cup.
Juventus was also eliminated by AC Milan in the Italian Super Cup semifinals in January.
Tudor played for Juventus for nearly a decade from 1998-2007 and has previously coached Udinese, Hellas Verona and Lazio in Italy.
Tudor was also an assistant coach to Andrea Pirlo at Juventus in 2020-21. Pirlo and Tudor were fired at the end of the season.
The 46-year-old Tudor will make his debut against Genoa next Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
Juventus will also play in the enlarged Club World Cup in the United States starting in June.
Motta has struggled all season to shed the defensive tactics instilled by his predecessor, Massimiliano Allegri, and Juventus has drawn 13 of its 29 Serie A matches.
Allegri was fired for his ugly outburst toward the referee and others in the Italian Cup final won by Juventus last season.
As a player, Tudor helped Juventus to win two Serie A titles, two Italian Super Cups and an Intertoto Cup — plus the 2007 Serie B title after the Bianconeri were relegated due to the Calciopoli scandal. He was then loaned to Siena before returning to Juventus but didn’t manage to play again for the Turin club due to injury.
Tudor was a starter in the 2003 Champions League final that Juventus lost to AC Milan in a penalty shootout.



Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
TT

Hospital: Vonn Had Surgery on Broken Leg from Olympics Crash

This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)
This handout video grab from IOC/OBS shows US Lindsey Vonn crashing during the women's downhill event at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Handout / various sources / AFP)

Lindsey Vonn had surgery on a fracture of her left leg following the American's heavy fall in the Winter Olympics downhill, the hospital said in a statement given to Italian media on Sunday.

"In the afternoon, (Vonn) underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilize a fracture of the left leg," the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso said.

Vonn, 41, was flown to Treviso after she was strapped into a medical stretcher and winched off the sunlit Olimpia delle Tofane piste in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Vonn, whose battle to reach the start line despite the serious injury to her left knee dominated the opening days of the Milano Cortina Olympics, saw her unlikely quest halted in screaming agony on the snow.

Wearing bib number 13 and with a brace on the left knee she ⁠injured in a crash at Crans Montana on January 30, Vonn looked pumped up at the start gate.

She tapped her ski poles before setting off in typically aggressive fashion down one of her favorite pistes on a mountain that has rewarded her in the past.

The 2010 gold medalist, the second most successful female World Cup skier of all time with 84 wins, appeared to clip the fourth gate with her shoulder, losing control and being launched into the air.

She then barreled off the course at high speed before coming to rest in a crumpled heap.

Vonn could be heard screaming on television coverage as fans and teammates gasped in horror before a shocked hush fell on the packed finish area.

She was quickly surrounded by several medics and officials before a yellow Falco 2 ⁠Alpine rescue helicopter arrived and winched her away on an orange stretcher.


Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
TT

Meloni Condemns 'Enemies of Italy' after Clashes in Olympics Host City Milan

Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
Demonstrators hold smoke flares during a protest against the environmental, economic and social impact of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, February 7, 2026. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has condemned anti-Olympics protesters as "enemies of Italy" after violence on the fringes of a demonstration in Milan on Saturday night and sabotage attacks on the national rail network.

The incidents happened on the first full day of competition in the Winter Games that Milan, Italy's financial capital, is hosting with the Alpine town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Meloni praised the thousands of Italians who she said were working to make the Games run smoothly and present a positive face of Italy.

"Then ⁠there are those who are enemies of Italy and Italians, demonstrating 'against the Olympics' and ensuring that these images are broadcast on television screens around the world. After others cut the railway cables to prevent trains from departing," she wrote on Instagram on Sunday.

A group of around 100 protesters ⁠threw firecrackers, smoke bombs and bottles at police after breaking away from the main body of a demonstration in Milan.

An estimated 10,000 people had taken to the city's streets in a protest over housing costs and environmental concerns linked to the Games.

Police used water cannon to restore order and detained six people.

Also on Saturday, authorities said saboteurs had damaged rail infrastructure near the northern Italian city of Bologna, disrupting train journeys.

Police reported three separate ⁠incidents at different locations, which caused delays of up to 2-1/2 hours for high-speed, Intercity and regional services.

No one has claimed responsibility for the damage.

"Once again, solidarity with the police, the city of Milan, and all those who will see their work undermined by these gangs of criminals," added Meloni, who heads a right-wing coalition.

The Italian police have been given new arrest powers after violence last weekend at a protest by the hard-left in the city of Turin, in which more than 100 police officers were injured.


Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
TT

Liverpool New Signing Jacquet Suffers 'Serious' Injury

Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026  Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier
Soccer Football - Ligue 1 - RC Lens v Stade Rennes - Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens, France - February 7, 2026 Stade Rennes' Jeremy Jacquet in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Liverpool's new signing Jeremy Jacquet suffered a "serious" shoulder injury while playing for Rennes in their 3-1 Ligue 1 defeat at RC Lens on Saturday, casting doubt over the defender’s availability ahead of his summer move to Anfield.

Jacquet fell awkwardly in the second half of the ⁠French league match and appeared in agony as he left the pitch.

"For Jeremy, it's his shoulder, and for Abdelhamid (Ait Boudlal, another Rennes player injured in the ⁠same match) it's muscular," Rennes head coach Habib Beye told reporters after the match.

"We'll have time to see, but it's definitely quite serious for both of them."
Liverpool agreed a 60-million-pound ($80-million) deal for Jacquet on Monday, but the 20-year-old defender will stay with ⁠the French club until the end of the season.

Liverpool, provisionally sixth in the Premier League table, will face Manchester City on Sunday with four defenders - Giovanni Leoni, Joe Gomez, Jeremie Frimpong and Conor Bradley - sidelined due to injuries.