With pressure building, Pirlo and Poch can't afford to lose tonight

With pressure building on Andrea Pirlo and Mauricio Pochettino, NEITHER can afford to lose in Cup finals tonight… a Coppa Italia may not be enough to save Juventus rookie but ex-Spurs man must prove himself a winner at PSG

• Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain are out to save their domestic seasons 
• The stakes are incredibly high for both Andrea Pirlo and Mauricio Pochettino   
• Both go into Wednesday night with their sides in major domestic Cup finals
• Domestic Super Cup glory is never enough for elite clubs such as Juve and PSG
• It could cost Pirlo his job but Pochettino’s situation isn’t nearly as perilous  

While it’s another huge evening in the Premier League, there is also a lot on the line in Serie A and Ligue 1 for two managers in particular.

Andrea Pirlo and Mauricio Pochettino wouldn’t have expected easy jobs when taking over at Juventus and Paris Saint-Germain but they would have wanted to have done much better than they have so far this season.

Both have a chance on Wednesday night to pick up some prestigious silverware and at least give themselves something positive to look back on before building for next season.

Andrea Pirlo is under pressure to lead Juventus to Italian Cup glory on Wednesday night

Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain side take on Monaco in the French Cup final

It has been especially tough for Pirlo. Usually when a manager takes over at Juventus they confidently expect to collect silverware as easily as they eat their Christmas panettone.

Since the 2011/12 season, Juve have been the dominant force in Italy. Antonio Conte, Massimiliano Allegri and Maurizio Sarri all guided Juve to nine consecutive Serie A titles before Pirlo, a club legend no less, took on the biggest managerial job in Italy last August.

Indeed, it was all quite bizarre given how Pirlo had only accepted the under-23 job at Juve and nine days later, following Sarri’s sacking, he was promoted to managing the first team.

Maurizio Sarri was sacked as Juventus boss despite leading them to to the Serie A title

It must be said that he hasn’t had it easy since. Conte, Allegri and Sarri were all fortunate to work with teams that blended exciting young talent with older, more experienced heads. Pirlo inherited an ageing squad of players which realistically he still needs another transfer window to freshen up.

Take, for example, Juve’s disappointing Champions League last-16 exit against Porto in February. Six the players who started for Juve in the second leg were over 30.

The over-reliance on the likes of Juan Cuadrado and Cristiano Ronaldo, two of those over 30 players, is also concerning.

Other problems, which also can’t be placed at Pirlo’s door, include poor recruitment. 

Barcelona allowing Arthur to join Juve after only two years at the club said a lot – even if it was a move to save cash it’s unlikely that it would have been sanctioned had the midfielder shown promise in Spain – while the addition of Weston McKennie raised eyebrows.

Pirlo was dealt a tough hand and he has had to rely on senior pros such as Cristiano Ronaldo

McKennie, at 22, may well go on to very good things at Juve but his fitness problems this season have given cause for concern.

What you can blame Pirlo for, and it’s something he needs to nail in the build-up to the Coppa Italia final against Atalanta, is his inability to cultivate a winning or fighting mentality.

He has said it himself numerous times this season yet it was most appropriate when Juve lost 2-0 at champions-elect Inter in January.

‘We didn’t have the hunger or intensity of Inter,’ and ‘we need to show more will to win and fight’ were the phrases he used.

Similar to Pochettino over in Paris, Pirlo only has the domestic Super Cup to show for his time in charge.

The next few days are critical for Pirlo. And winning the Coppa Italia against Atalanta may not be enough to save him should Juve not manage to force their way into the top four and qualify for the Champions League.

Pirlo hasn’t, however, been able cultivate the same winning mentality previous managers did

Europa League football, which winning the Italian Cup would secure Juve, won’t be enough for the club’s hierarchy although it would add to Pirlo’s managerial CV.

Of course, if they somehow win the Cup and qualify for the Champions League by beating Bologna at the weekend with results going their way then Pirlo will surely secure his future at the club beyond this season.

But that is a big ask and with another summer of upheaval needed to return Juve to the top of Italian football, Pirlo’s chances of making it to a year in the job look doubtful.

For Pochettino, it is highly unlikely that he’ll lose his job should PSG lose the French Cup against Monaco on Wednesday night and also not manage to leapfrog Lyon on the final day of the Ligue 1 season.

Pochettino’s first season in charge of PSG could still finish with two major domestic trophies

But that doesn’t mean the next two matches aren’t massively important for Pochettino. He has steadily build up his reputation over the last few years and his reward for that was landing the PSG job.

Trusted to manage elite players such as Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, Pochettino was appointed with confidence and expectation.

PSG, like Pochettino, had been building their own reputation as an elite side to match their status as a financial powerhouse of world football.

Pochettino’s task was and still is to take PSG a step further than his predecessor Thomas Tuchel managed and win the Champions League.

Given the sheer difficulty and unpredictability of the the Champions League, losing in the semi-finals this season against Manchester City after finishing as runners-up to Bayern Munich last term can hardly be seen as failure.

PSG’s bread and butter has always been Ligue 1 and that is where Pochettino has struggled. 

Pochettino led PSG to the Champions League semi-finals where they lost to Manchester City

Only once in the previous eight seasons have PSG not finished as French champions when Monaco pipped them to the title in the 2016-17 campaign. Yet Pochettino should still sit comfortably if PSG can’t overtake Lyon on the last day of the season because Unai Emery, who led them to that second place finish in his first season four years ago, was kept on for another year in which he won Ligue 1.

What could make Pochettino’s position a little uncomfortable is if PSG don’t clinch the French Cup and also not retain their league title. The trophy cabinet would be without any major domestic trophy and even in the season PSG finished second under Emery they did do the domestic double by winning the French Cup and the French League Cup.

So, a big night for both managers. And even if Wednesday night goes to plan along with the final few days of the season, both Pirlo and Pochettino face a summer of convincing their best players to secure their futures. 

Ronaldo at Juve and Mbappe at PSG but those are dilemmas for when the dust has settled and the most pressing matters have been decided.  

Pochettino has a strong rapport with his players but still needs to secure Mbappe’s PSG future

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