Juventus shocked the footballing world on Saturday evening by appointing Andrea Pirlo as their new manager.

Maurizio Sarri was sacked by the club just hours earlier following the Bianconeri's elimination from the Champions League at the hands of Lyon.

The hiring of Pirlo represents a massive risk for the Serie A champions, mainly due to the fact that the Italian has no experience as a manager.

Pirlo only took over Juve's U23 side last week, but has now been given one of the toughest jobs in world football.

The 41-year-old's success as a player - which included four Serie A titles with Juve - will count for absolutely nothing in the managerial arena.

Pirlo with Juventus

That's something Pirlo's former AC Milan teammate and current Napoli manager Gennaro Gattuso was keen to stress when speaking to the Italian media on Saturday night.

"Well he's screwed now. That's the job," Gattuso told Sky Italia after Napoli's 3-1 defeat to Barcelona at the Camp Nou, per Goal.

"He's lucky to be starting at Juventus, but this profession is one where a great playing career is not enough.

"You have to study, to work hard, and you don't get much sleep."

Gattuso with Napoli

Gattuso knows a thing or two about being unexpectedly handed one of the biggest jobs in world football.

In May 2017, he was appointed as manager of AC Milan's youth team before being promoted to the top job following the sacking of Vincenzo Montella later on in the year.

"Being a player and being a coach is really not the same thing at all," Gattuso added.

"It's a totally different profession and we can't learn it just from books, we need to get in there and work hard. It's a different world."

Pirlo in action

You've been warned, Andrea.

Pirlo's knowledge of the Bianconeri will, of course, serve him well as manager, but it's still hard to look past his lack of experience.

One thing is for certain, games between Juventus and Napoli will have an added edge to them next season with Pirlo and Gattuso on the touchline.