FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Serie A - Bologna v Juventus - Stadio Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna, Italy - May 4, 2025 Juventus coach Igor Tudor reacts REUTERS/Matteo Ciambelli/File Photo
(Reuters) - Juventus have greater potential than they have shown on the pitch this season, manager Igor Tudor said on Saturday, ahead of his team's final battle to get a top-four finish in Serie A and a place in next season's Champions League.
Fourth-placed Juventus are just a point above AS Roma, who have one point more than sixth-placed Lazio, with all three clubs vying for the only Champions League slot still up for grabs as the Serie A season comes to a conclusion on Sunday.
"Numbers and calculations are not part of my way of thinking... Juve's potential is bigger than what we can see now," Tudor told reporters a day before their trip to 19th-placed Venezia.
"For me this team has done almost nothing wrong. The team gives me confidence for tomorrow. The team wants to take what is theirs. The team is there."
Venezia, who sit two points below the safety zone and need a win on Sunday to have any hope of avoiding relegation, are waging a desperate battle for survival and beat seventh-placed Fiorentina 2-1 in their previous home game.
"We'll need both (head and heart). It's an important match and we have to concentrate on things on the pitch," said Tudor, who replaced Thiago Motta as coach in March.
"I'm happy with the work I've done and I want to take this last step to complete everything."
Tudor said midfielder Teun Koopmeiners, who suffered an Achilles tendon injury last month, had trained with the team, but did not say if he was ready to play.
"Renato (Veiga) and (Weston) McKennie had problems but they trained with us today," the coach added.
Tudor, who spent almost a decade at Juventus as a player, said he wanted to help his players do better, with the club set to compete at the Club World Cup in the United States next month.
"I want to do my best to help my players. I want to make them understand what we can do at Venezia and where we can improve," he said.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; editing by Clare Fallon)
