Juventus bounced back from their opaque performances of late by hammering mid-table side Udinese 4-0 on Saturday to re-open a five-point lead over Napoli and Lazio at the top of the Serie A standings.
The match at the Juventus Stadium marked Udinese coach Francesco Guidolin’s 500th ap-pearance in charge of a team in the top flight of the game.
Guidolin, 57, is currently in his third season at the Friuli club. This is also his second stint with Udinese given that he had been in charge of the northeasterners in season 1998/99, guiding them to a trouble-free mid-table spot.
Guidolin made his debut in the Serie A in 1993 at the helm of Atalanta. However, his stay in Bergamo was short-lived as he was sacked after only 10 games.
To revive his career, Guidolin had to go one grade down and opt for Serie B outfit Vicenza in the following year.
He did a great job there and led Vicenza to promotion.
In 1997, the Lanerossi, as Vicenza are popularly known, went on to lift the Coppa Italia after beating Napoli in the final.
Vicenza enjoyed a good run in the Cup Winners’ Cup but they were ousted by eventual winners – Gianluca Vialli’s Chelsea – in the semi-finals.
After one season in charge at Udinese, Guidolin replaced Sergio Buso at Bologna but he could only lead the side to mid-table finishes between 1999 and 2003.
In January 2004, Guidolin replaced Silvio Baldini at Maurizio Zamparini’s ambitious Palermo in Serie B.
At the time, the Sicilians were not in contention for promotion but with Guidolin on the bench they clinched promotion and ended a 35-year wait for Serie A football.
Palermo qualified for the UEFA Cup the following year but Guidolin shocked the Sicilians in 2005 when he announced his departure, saying he could not take the team any further.
After a few months of inactivity and away from the game, Guidolin signed for Monaco in Ligue 1 but his experience in French football was one to forget.
In fact, despite having goal ace Christian Vieri in his squad, Monaco finished well behind the major contenders and some 30 points far from champions Olym-pique Lyon.
The summer of 2006 marked Guidolin’s return at Palermo but his second stint down south was not as successful as his first.
Overall, Guidolin was hired and sacked three times by Zamparini between 2006 and 2008 before joining Serie B outfit Parma where he replaced Luigi Cagni.
Guidolin led Parma to an immediate promotion to the Serie A and in the following season, the Emilia Romagna outfit finished in a mid-table spot.
Friuli return
In 2010, Guidolin made a headline-grabbing return to Udine and in each of his first two seasons in charge his team booked a place in the UEFA Champions League at the expense of more-quoted sides in Serie A.
At the Friuli Stadium, Guidolin did remarkably well despite a restricted budget to work with.
Last summer, many thought he was on his way out as it was felt that Udinese were nearing the end of a cycle following the notable departures of Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona), Christian Zapata (Villareal) and Mauricio Isla and Kwadwo Asamoah (both Juventus).
But Guidolin was convinced to stay and Udinese are again battling to join the top sides in the upper half with a place in Europe as their best hope.
The downside of Guidolin’s experience in Udine lies in the fact that they have never succeeded in reaching the Champions League proper following exits to Arsenal in 2011 and Braga last summer.
Guidolin has always managed modest clubs in his career, leading them to new heights.
However, given his reluctance to hog the limelight elsewhere, it will remain a mystery whether he could have done a similar good job with a team harbouring loftier ambitions.
Guidolin’s track
1993-1994: Atalanta
1994-1998: Vicenza
1998-1999: Udinese
1999-2003: Bologna
2004-2005: Palermo
2005: Genoa
2005-2006: AS Monaco
2006-2007: Palermo
2007: Palermo
2007-2008: Palermo
2008-2010: Parma
2010-: Udinese