'Whole season was a disaster!' - Douglas Luiz's Juventus nightmare explained as club legend blames sacked Thiago Motta for behaviour which 'chilled my blood'

Juventus legend Alessio Tacchinardi described Douglas Luiz's season as a "disaster" and blamed the recently sacked head coach Thiago Motta for the poor handling of the Brazilian. The Italian pointed fingers at Motta for not bringing the best out of Luiz and claimed that the player and the coach had a non-existent professional relationship.

Speaking on a YouTube show with 'Ilbianconero' (h/t Football Italia), Tacchinardi accused Motta of not treating Luiz the way he treated other players: “Motta was asked if he had spoken to Douglas, but he replied: ‘No, but he had a good attitude in training.’ I immediately thought: ‘Motta doesn’t talk to certain players.’ If you see somebody as one of your players, the next day in training, you try to motivate them. To me, it made no sense, but that was Motta’s approach. Perhaps, Emery made him feel important and texted him every day, saying, ‘You are my best player.’ I don’t think Douglas has forgotten how to play.”

Tacchinardi also pointed out that Motta failed to motivate the Brazilian after his mistakes, in particular the two penalties he gave away in consecutive games against RB Leipzig and Cagliari. “The first thing you do when a player makes that sort of mistake is try to motivate him,” Tacchinardi continued.

“When I heard what Motta said, it chilled my blood. Then the whole season was a disaster. I don’t know if he trained poorly; I don’t think so. He had injuries, but there was no real connection with Motta. Maybe even the club could have asked Motta why Douglas Luiz never played two games in a row.”

Last summer marked a major shake-up at Juventus with the arrival of Motta from Bologna and the €50 million (£43m/$55m) signing of Luiz from Aston Villa. However, the move hasn’t gone to plan. The 26-year-old midfielder managed just 795 minutes across 22 appearances in all competitions, starting only six games. Reports also suggest Luiz wasn’t alone in clashing with Motta — rising star Kenan Yildiz is said to have faced similar treatment from the former Bologna boss.

Although Luiz has a contract with Juve until 2029, the Bianconeri are open to offloading the former Villa star this summer. According to reports, the Serie A giants will demand at least €40 million (£34.5m/$44m) to sell Luiz. Numerous Premier League teams are said to be interested in acquiring the midfielder's signature. Indeed, Nottingham Forest want to sign Luiz as they aim for Champions League football in the 2025-26 season, while Newcastle United are weighing their options and could possibly include ex-AC Milan midfielder Sandro Tonali in a swap deal.