New Juventus approach welcomed by Yildiz, Locatelli and Thuram after 1-0 victory

epa11997435 Juventus’s Kenan Yldiz scoring the 1-0 opening goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Juventus FC and CFC Genoa, in Juventus, Italy, 29 March 2025. EPA-EFE/Alessandro Di Marco

Kenan Yildiz and Manuel Locatelli feel new coach Igor Tudor brought ‘fresh energy’ to Juventus, while Khephren Thuram admits he laughed at his father Lilian’s advice.

This was the first match under new coach Tudor, as Thiago Motta was given the boot six days ago following back-to-back defeats to Atalanta and Fiorentina.

There were already several changes this evening, from the 3-4-2-1 formation to picking Dusan Vlahovic and leaving Randal Kolo Muani on the bench throughout the 1-0 win over Genoa.

It was decided by a Kenan Yildiz strike from the tightest of angles, but that move was sparked by Tudor acting as ball boy to get Teun Koopmeiners to take a quick throw-in, catching the defence by surprise.

Juventus revitalised by new boss Tudor

“It was a good goal, one of my best, hopefully I can score normal goals too. We are happy now, we’re a good squad and worked hard,” Kenan Yildiz told DAZN.

“I thank the coach, we did all we could with him. The new coach brought fresh energy.”

Juventus are still only in fifth place, because Bologna won 1-0 away to Venezia this afternoon to keep hold of fourth, but the fight for Champions League qualification is going to be very tight.

“We need to concentrate on the next games, we thank the old coach, he gave his all, now we must concentrate on winning the next matches to achieve our targets,” added Locatelli.

“The new boss asked us to fight for the jersey. This is only one match, I think we’re a good squad with talented young players, we need to stay humble and keep fighting for this jersey.”

Thuram also spoke to DAZN after the final whistle in Turin and was asked about an anecdote during Tudor’s presentation press conference, when he revealed Lilian Thuram had given him permission to give his son a slap if needed.

“I saw that, it made me laugh. Tudor is a great coach, he brings a lot of intensity, tells me to be aggressive off the ball and I like his approach,” smiled Khephren.

“I don’t know what didn’t work, but we are Juventus and must always win. Now we are back to winning ways and that is important.

“We played against a good Genoa side, it was our first week with a new coach and I think with a little time it will get better.”