Atalanta Parts Ways with Juric After Troubling Tenure

Ivan Juric’s brief and tumultuous tenure as Atalanta’s manager came to an abrupt end after the team’s 3-0 home defeat to Sassuolo over the weekend. This result proved to be the final straw for the club’s hierarchy, marking Atalanta’s eighth consecutive league match without a victory. Currently, the team sits 13th in the Serie A standings, already trailing leaders Inter Milan by 11 points after just 11 matches. Appointed in June 2025 to build upon Gian Piero Gasperini’s transformative legacy, Juric’s reign struggled to gain traction, plagued by inconsistent results, tactical disarray, and a significant decline in the team’s characteristic attacking vigor.

The 50-year-old manager’s dismissal comes a mere five months into his appointment, making it one of the shortest managerial spells in Atalanta’s recent history. Juric was charged with upholding the club’s Champions League-level standards following last season’s impressive third-place finish. However, the team’s decline was evident from the outset. A series of six consecutive draws, followed by defeats to Udinese and Sassuolo, highlighted significant structural weaknesses in Juric’s approach. The team’s high pressing lacked coordination, and their defensive organization faltered under opposition pressure.

Atalanta officially announced Juric’s departure on Monday, expressing gratitude for his and his staff’s “hard work and professionalism,” while acknowledging the necessity for change in light of an impending challenging winter schedule. It is believed that club officials reached their decision shortly after the match against Sassuolo and had already devised contingency plans during the international break. Local reports from Bergamo have identified Raffaele Palladino as the leading candidate to succeed Juric, with an announcement anticipated before the team’s upcoming match against Napoli on November 22.

Juric’s struggles seemed inevitable given the daunting task of succeeding Gasperini, whose nine-year tenure is regarded as one of the most transformative in modern Italian football. Gasperini revolutionized the club’s identity and reshaped the perception of smaller-market teams in Serie A. When he took over, Atalanta was a mid-table side focused on survival; by the time he departed for Roma in June 2025, they had solidified their status as European contenders, having secured the Europa League title in the 2023-24 season.

Under Gasperini, Atalanta developed a fearless, high-pressing 3-4-2-1 formation and a relentless man-to-man marking system, turning La Dea into a high-scoring powerhouse. His tenure saw three consecutive top-three finishes from 2018 to 2021 and included record-breaking performances, such as an extraordinary 98-goal Serie A campaign in 2019/20—the highest tally by any Italian club in over six decades.

The pinnacle of Gasperini’s era came in 2024 when Atalanta triumphed over Bayer Leverkusen in a 3-0 victory to win their first major European trophy. By the time Gasperini left, he had secured five Champions League qualifications and earned two Serie A Coach of the Year awards, leaving behind an enduring legacy. In contrast, Juric’s efforts to replicate this success faltered from the beginning, with the team demonstrating tactical disarray and emotional flatness compared to the high-energy squads from the Gasperini era.

Attention is now focused on Palladino, who is widely expected to be named Atalanta’s new head coach in the coming days. At just 41 years old, the former Fiorentina and Monza manager has established a reputation as one of Italy’s most promising young tacticians, known for his ability to blend disciplined structure with attacking ambition. His coaching philosophy aligns closely with the principles previously instilled by Gasperini, making him an attractive option to reignite Atalanta’s trademark intensity.

Palladino’s coaching career has progressed rapidly. After beginning in Monza’s youth setup in 2019, he made an immediate impact when unexpectedly promoted to the first team in 2022, leading them to a surprise 1-0 victory over Juventus in his debut match. His team went on to comfortably avoid relegation, gaining praise for their bold and compact style, characterized by effective pressing and positional flexibility.

His success at Monza led to a move to Fiorentina, where he guided the club to a sixth-place finish in the 2024/25 Serie A season, earning qualification for the UEFA Conference League. Palladino’s teams are noted for their aggressive transitions, width through dynamic wing-backs, and a preference for formations such as the 3-4-2-1—all elements that resonate with Atalanta’s footballing ethos.

Atalanta’s immediate focus will be stabilizing results under a new manager as they prepare for their upcoming match against Napoli following the international break. With the team struggling to regain confidence and consistency, Palladino’s initial challenge will be to restore tactical clarity and uplift morale within a squad that has grown accustomed to the high standards of the Gasperini era. Revitalizing the attacking prowess of players such as Gianluca Scamacca, Ademola Lookman, and Teun Koopmeiners will be crucial if Atalanta hopes to reclaim their place in the upper half of the table and contend for European spots.

For Juric, this dismissal marks yet another abrupt end to a turbulent managerial journey, following disappointingly short stints at both Roma and Southampton.