Oriali Warns of Italy’s Difficult Spell and Criticizes Shameful Juve Ultras

Italy have reported back to Coverciano with familiar faces on the touchline and a very different mood in the air.

Roberto Mancini is back in charge of the Azzurri. Alongside him, Gabriele Oriali has also returned as team manager, and he did not try to sugar-coat where Italian football stands as the squad began preparations for a demanding Nations League campaign.

“It is certainly not the best moment for Italian football, we know that we are heading into a difficult spell,” Oriali told Rai 2, setting the tone for an international break that feels more like a reset than a reunion.

Italy open against Belgium on Friday, then travel to face Turkiye on September 28 and France on October 2. Vincenzo Montella’s Turkish side then visit Italy on October 5, before the group closes with a heavyweight double: France on November 12 and Belgium on November 15. It is a run that will test not just Mancini’s ideas, but the squad’s mentality.

Oriali made it clear that responsibility cannot sit only on the bench.

“The lads need to recognise that too,” he said. “The important thing is for everyone to understand the moment, share it, have collective responsibility, respect and a little discipline, all of which never hurts.

“It is by finding that team spirit, that group togetherness, that we can then achieve results.”

Those words cut against the backdrop of a domestic scene that has looked anything but united.

At San Siro on September 20, during a Serie A match between Milan and Lecce, a LED screen carried a tribute to Sandro Mazzola, the iconic Italy and Inter figure. During the minute’s silence, sections of the Juventus ultras turned their backs on the pitch. The images travelled fast. So did the outrage.

For Oriali, who shared a dressing room with Mazzola at Inter, the gesture went beyond rivalry.

“I remember the first training sessions at the Pinetina, Mazzola was one of those who welcomed me with open arms,” he recalled. “He gave me a lift home one day after training, people couldn’t believe it when they saw him.

“I have only fond memories of him as a teammate and a person, without forgetting he was also a great director who brought Ronaldo to Serie A.”

That is why the behaviour of the ultras hit a nerve.

“The ultras turning their backs was an ugly image. I hope that these people can be identified and left out of the stadium, it’s shameful,” Oriali said. “There are champions who go beyond the jerseys they wear, and this was just a deplorable gesture.”

As Mancini and Oriali try to rebuild a sense of purpose at Coverciano, their message is blunt: Italy need discipline, unity and respect — not just to navigate a brutal Nations League group, but to remember who they are when the shirt is on and the anthem plays.