Massimiliano Allegri is one of the most successful managers of the modern era. The 51-year-old led Juventus to five consecutive Serie A titles, four Coppa Italia triumphs and two Champions League finals in five years in Turin, but his departure prompted a largely subdued reaction among fans. While many are thankful to Allegri for helping to sustain the club’s domestic dominance, a large number of supporters are happy to see the back of him.
A lack of a European trophy and a brand of football that was perceived as dull and pragmatic ultimately ended a marriage where love never truly blossomed. While Allegri was not universally liked by Juventus fans, he has earned his place in the club’s history and, statistically at least, should be considered among their greatest ever managers.
Giovanni Trapattoni: 1976-1986 and 1991-1994
Perhaps the most influential manager in the history of the club, Giovanni Trapattoni took domestic dominance and extended it to Europe. His first stint in Turin delivered six league titles – including their 20th, which meant the club could adorn their badge with two stars.
Trapattoni took the club to new new heights when he led Juventus to glory in the Uefa Cup in 1977. It was the club’s first European trophy and it remains the only time an Italian club has won a European trophy with a squad full of Italian players. Seven years later, the Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Super Cup followed, before the club landed the most coveted prize of them all in tragic circumstances at Heysel in 1985. Trapattoni added the Intercontinental Cup to the trophy cabinet a few months later, when Juve went to Tokyo and beat Argentinos Juniors on penalties after a fine game, the two teams even bonding together in the same hotel.
Known for his pragmatism, Trapattoni combined the core of the Italy defence that had won the World Cup in 1982 with exciting talents such as Michel Platini, Paolo Rossi and Zbigniew Boniek. That trio had departed by the time Trapattoni returned to the club in 1991, but he still managed to guide Juventus to another Uefa Cup in 1993 – with Roberto (and Dino) Baggio scoring the vital goals in their 6-1 aggregate win over Borussia Dortmund in the final.
Marcello Lippi: 1994-1999 and 2001-2004
When Marcello Lippi left Napoli to replace Trapattoni in 1994, Juventus had not won the league in nine years – an eternity by the club’s standards. His job was to bring back domestic glory but he went way further and catapulted the Old Lady to the top of world football. Not afraid of making unpopular decisions, Lippi ushered Juventus into a new era on and off the pitch.
Roberto Baggio, a club icon, was replaced by the precocious talent of Alessandro Del Piero and Juventus recruited the likes of Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps, Vladimir Jugovic, Alen Boksic and Christian Vieri.
Lippi delivered three league titles in his first four seasons but his team’s greatest achievements came in Europe. They reached three Champions League finals in a row, beating reigning champions Ajax to lift the trophy in 1996. They set standards for the whole continent. “Juventus were the benchmark,” said Gary Neville of Lippi’s side. “We measured ourselves against them and I still look back on the team of Alessandro del Piero, Zinedine Zidane, Alen Boksic and Didier Deschamps as the best I ever faced.”
Lippi spent a few seasons away from the club before returning for a second spell – as his predecessor had done. Two more Serie A titles followed but continental glory eluded him, as Juve fell at the final hurdle in the Champions League yet again, losing to Milan on penalties in 2003.
Massimiliano Allegri: 2014-2019
Allegri was far from a popular choice when he replaced Antonio Conte in 2014. Some fans hurled eggs at his car when he arrived to conduct his first training session. Not one to engage in verbal skirmishes, Allegri let his team do the talking for him and results mostly kept criticism at bay. He won five straight league titles and all of them were wrapped up before the final day of the campaign. In his first four seasons in charge, Juventus also won the Coppa Italia – a trophy they had not lifted for 20 years.
However, for all his domination in Italy, Allegri came undone in Europe, just like his predecessor. Juventus lost two Champions League finals – against Barcelona in 2015 and Real Madrid in 2017 – and came within a last-minute penalty of reaching the semi-finals last season. The surprising arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo was expected to help Juventus over the line, but they could not live with Ajax’s youthful exuberance and, in the end, that cost Allegri his job.
Antonio Conte: 2011-2014
If Allegri continued Juventus’ domestic domination, Antonio Conte was the man who returned the Old Lady to the top of Italian football. A popular choice with the fans after spending 13 seasons wearing black and white, Conte took over a team in transition – they had finished seventh in the previous two campaigns – and transformed them into a ruthless winning machine.
Despite the pressure and expectations, he led Juventus to the title in his first season, when the Bianconeri became the first and so far only side to remain unbeaten throughout a 38-game Serie A season (Milan only played 34 games when they unbeaten in the 1991-92 season and Perugia’s invincibles only played 30 games in 1978-79 – and they didn’t even win the league).
Two more titles followed for Conte, with Juventus breaking the 100-point barrier for the first time in league’s history in his final season in Turin. A shrewd operator in the transfer market, Conte showed that clubs could make great signings without spending exorbitant amounts. Paul Pogba, Carlos Tevez, Fernando Llorente and Arturo Vidal were signed for a combined £20m.
As would be the case with his successor, however, Conte’s lack of success in Europe – he never took Juventus past the quarter-finals of the Champions League – ultimately sealed his fate.
Cestmir Vycpalek: 1971-1974
Vycpalek’s name could be easily forgotten in Juventus’ glorious modern history but the Czech manager was a pivotal figure at the club in the 1970s. Having played for the club in the 1940s, he returned to manage their youth team in 1971 and soon found himself in charge when manager Armando Picchi had to step down due to health problems.
Unfazed by the challenge, Vycpalek guided Juventus to the title in his first full season in charge. A second Scudetto arrived the following season, with Juventus also losing the Coppa Italia final and European Cup final – the first of their record seven defeats in European Cup finals. Vycpálek died on 5 May 2002, a date that will be familiar to Juventus fans; it was the day Inter lost to Lazio and, incredibly, Juventus beat Udinese to clinch their 26th league title.
The Guardian Sport
