Crisis-hit Juventus ‘set to SACK Pirlo, lose Cristiano Ronaldo and miss out on £78m if they don’t get Champions League’
JUVENTUS are set to be hit with a financial bombshell if they miss out on Champions League football.
The Old Lady, who are fifth, will also sack boss Andrea Pirlo and lose Cristiano Ronaldo if they don’t finish inside the top four.
Pirlo’s side succumbed to a disastrous 3-0 home defeat to rivals AC Milan on Sunday, leaving them one point behind fourth-place Napoli with just three matches remaining.
Juve still have to play Serie A champions Inter that could spark a huge summer of change.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Pirlo will receive the axe if they miss out on Europe’s most prestigious competition.
The Italian boss has already surrendered Juve’s nine-year dominance in Serie A.
Ronaldo will also depart as he will have no interest in playing for a club outside of the Champions League.
Juventus will also be forced to cash in on their main star as they won’t be able to afford his £28million-per-year contract.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League will leave a £78m black hole in the crisis-hit club having already suffered financially from the coronavirus pandemic.
Ronaldo still has 12 months left on his contract in Turin but his agent Jorge Mendes will look for a new club in the summer.
Most read in Football
He has been linked with moves to Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United, and a return to Real Madrid.
To further rub salt in the wounds, Juventus have been told they will be booted out of Serie A if they do not quit the doomed European Super League plans.
The Italian giants plus Spanish powerhouses Real Madrid and Barcelona last week defended their plans for a breakaway in the face of what they call ‘threats’ from Uefa.
But Juventus now face another threat from much closer to home after Italian FA president, Gabriele Gravina, issued them a chilling threat.
He said: “The rules are clear. If a club is still part of the Super League project, they can’t play in Serie A.
“It would be sad for the fans, but the rules are the same for everyone.”
Read our Football live blog for the very latest news from around the grounds