As things tend to happen when your season suddenly goes to hell and a major season-defining loss happens to likely cost you a whole lot of money with no Champions League, stories of this ilk tend to come out.
And it’s no surprise that after Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Fiorentina that saw Juventus drop from third place to sixth place in the penultimate weekend of the 2025-26 season, we’re seeing this kind of story.
According to Tuttosport, the current working relationship between Juve CEO Damien Comolli and
manager Luciano Spalletti has reached the point where it can be described as “nonexistent” with the Bianconeri set to close the season out with the Derby della Mole on Sunday night at the Stadio Olimpico. Comolli, who was leading the charge to hire Spalletti when the club dismissed Igor Tudor in October, has now seen things reportedly deteriorate to such an extent that it’s become quite a dynamic at Continassa.
At the heart of it seems to be Spalletti’s desire to sign a striker during the winter transfer window and the inability of Comolli — who has essentially served as the one running the show with transfers both before and after sporting director Marco Ottolini arrived in January — to actually deliver on that request. Instead of adding a striker profile that Spalletti actually wanted, Comolli’s inability to sign one — and they were linked to a handful of options at the No. 9 position in January! — meant that it was essentially Jonathan David and an out-of-form and out-of-favor Loïs Openda to try and fill that void during Dusan Vlahovic’s long-term injury absence.
The proof of that failure to sign a striker played out in February and beyond, as Juventus’ ability to score goals remained inconsistent despite the fact that they were simply creating more chances under Spalletti.
But everything has now come to a head with Juventus’ now-incredibly slim chances of making it into Europe’s premier club competition next season. Tuttosport reported a day earlier that John Elkann, Juve’s defacto owner, was evaluating Comolli’s role at the club — something that will be under real threat if Juventus are to fail to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Spalletti, of course, probably added some fuel to this fire when he said after the loss to Fiorentina that he was going to meet with Elkann at some point this week. Just what the general tone of that conversation — other than disappointment about what has just happened in the home finale over the weekend — is relatively unknown.
As Tuttosport described Spalletti’s current desire, “He’s effectively posing an ultimatum. He’s not demanding Comolli’s dismissal, but he’s unlikely to move forward assuming the Frenchman will still have sporting responsibilities.”
Small things, on top of the inability to sign a striker in January, have led Spalletti and Comolli to this point of their rift, according to Tuttosport. Where things go if Juve do indeed fail to qualify for the Champions League on the final day of the 2025-26 season remain to be seen for both Spalletti and Comolli.
