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Juventus's Coppa Italia triumph the latest bit of redemption for Max Allegri
The Coppa Italia final, which Juventus won Wednesday after beating Lazio 2-1 after extra-time, was not going to be played this week. It was originally scheduled for June 7; but Juventus could not make that date as the Champions League final, in which it will face Barcelona to be crowned Europe’s best, is on June 6. Even last week, before Juventus knocked European champion Real Madrid out of the tournament in the semifinal, no one thought of changing the date.
Juventus may have won four straight Serie A Scudetti, but its success this season–and this is its first league and domestic cup double in 20 years–has taken many by surprise. The reason dates back to July 15, six weeks before season began, when coach Antonio Conte surprisingly resigned. Just 24 hours later, sports director Beppe Marotta sat next to the new coach at a press conference: it was Max Allegri, the former AC Milan coach who had been in talks to be the national coach of Kazakhstan.
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Juventus fans were not happy; they had seen transfer target Juan Iturbe turn down their club to join Roma and new signing Alvaro Morata ruled out for seven weeks with an injury (one knock on Allegri’s Milan was how many players were injured).
In Allegri's first match, Juve lost a friendly to amateur side Lucento, conceding a goal from a corner (again, an Achilles heel of his Milan sides).
#AllegriOut trended on Twitter and the coach’s first job was to insist that he had not fallen out with Andrea Pirlo when they were at Milan together. Pirlo missed the first five matches of the season with an injury.
By then, Allegi was slowly turning things around. Juventus won all five Pirlo-less matches without conceding a goal. Allegri's critics claimed that he was riding the wave of Conte’s fine work; after all, it was the same 3-5-2 system that had worked for the previous three years. In November, Juventus beat Olympiakos 3-2 in the Champions League, playing with a 4-3-1-2 formation for the first time (in the same game, when Olympiakos took the lead, Juventus fans shouted, “Allegri sei un coglione!’, ‘Allegri, you’re an a**hole!’ at the coach). The next match changed everything: on November 9, Juventus stuck with the back four and beat Parma 7-0. Morata scored two late goals, and Allegri’s team was taking shape.
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Since then, Juventus has clinched the title with a defense that has conceded 21 goals (so far) and has not lost at home all season. It also won its first Coppa Italia since 1995 (and a record 10th in its history). Under Conte, Juventus only played with three at the back. Allegri has made it more flexible, switching between three and four at the back depending on the game and its state (it was a three-man defense against Lazio Wednesday).
For all the domestic dominance, Conte underachieved in the Champions League, reaching one quarterfinal but failing to get out of the group stage last season. His side, in Europe at least, was too predictable.
“To reduce this gap [in finances between English clubs and Barcelona and Real Madrid], we need to use our ingenuity,” Allegri told The Guardian last month. “We need to go out and find talented young players, we need to have a solid core of Italian players on which to build–as Juventus does–and then we need foreigners who can provide a really high technical quality to the group.”
This is where Marotta comes in. Every great Italian team has had an important sports director: Inter Milan (1960s) had Italo Allodi; Maradona’s Napoli and Lippi’s Juventus had Luciano Moggi; and Berlusconi’s Milan had Adriano Galliani. Marotta may be in that company soon, despite a mixed first summer of recruitment back in the summer of 2010, which included Milos Krasic (flop) and Jorge Martinez (flop) along with Andrea Barzagli (hit) and Leonardo Bonucci (hit).
It was Marotta who went against public opinion and picked Allegri. He was the one who persuaded Pirlo to swap Milan for Juventus; who signed Arturo Vidal, Carlos Tevez and Paul Pogba for a combined €25m; and has young players to call on like Stefano Sturaro and Kingsley Coman while other youngsters out on loan, like Domenco Berardi, Daniele Rugani, and Simone Zaza point to a bright future.
Marotta signed eight of Juventus’s starting XI for just over €70 million, or about the same price as James Rodriguez.
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Then there’s Alessandro Matri, who scored the match-winner in the Coppa Italia final. Juventus sold him to AC Milan in 2013, but brought him back on loan in February. His first goal was in the Coppa semifinal against Fiorentina, and he came off the bench Wednesday to score the winner, minutes after a Filip Djordjevic shot had struck both Juve posts and bounced to safety. Taking off his shirt to celebrate was not Matri’s smartest move, but in a stroke, another Marotta deal had paid dividends.
This has already been a momentous campaign for Juventus. Allegri will no doubt play things down and focus on the Barcelona game on June 6. The Spanish champion may just have preferred to play Real Madrid in Berlin. Juventus will be the underdog, but Allegri will like it that way. He has already proved people wrong this season. He’s just another 90 minutes from securing his place in history.
GALLERY: Tifos around the world
Best soccer tifos from around the world
Galatasaray fans display a sensational "Rocky" tifo ahead of their clash against rival Fenerbahce. It didn't inspire a victory, though. The Turkish rivals played to a 0-0 draw.
Borussia Dortmund fans channel their 1963 cup triumph over Benfica ahead of the teams' second leg in the Champions League round of 16 at Signal Iduna Park.
Hapoel Be'er Sheva fans turn to Moses for tifo inspiration, with his splitting the Red Sea illustrating how "impossible is nothing" in their Europa League series against Besiktas.
Fans of Tunisia's Club Africain display this pointed tifo at a friendly against PSG, whose Qatari owners have pumped millions and millions into the club.
U.S. fans in Columbus, Ohio, make a "One Nation, One Team" statement ahead of the USMNT's World Cup qualifying match against Mexico on November 11, 2016.
Germany fans display their heart for the team colors ahead of a World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic in October 2016.
Italy fans spell out their support for the Azzurri ahead of a massive World Cup qualifier vs. Spain in October 2018.
Iceland fans keep up their world-famous passion for the national team during a World Cup qualifier against Turkey in October 2016.
Fans in the United Arab Emirates set their sights on reaching the 2018 World Cup in Russia during a qualifying match vs. Australia in September 2016.
Colombia fans send a massive jersey around the stadium during a World Cup qualifier vs. Venezuela in September 2016.
Seattle Sounders fans turn to Game Of Thrones for inspiration in a game against the Cascadia rival Vancouver Whitecaps in September 2016.
Djurgardens fans go all out in Sweden for a match against AIK in September 2016.
Zulte Waregem fans prepare Kortrijk for the absolute worst in this Belgian top-flight match in September 2016.
Seattle Sounders fans turn their pop culture reference to Poltergeist in March 2016 ahead of the season home opener against Sporting Kansas City.
The Timbers Army doubles down on their Eastbound and Down theme, adding another wrinkle during the club's MLS Western Conference final first leg vs. FC Dallas on November 22, 2015 at Providence Park.
Fans make a French flag tifo at Wembley Stadium during the singing of Le Marseillaise ahead of England's friendly vs. France, which took place days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.
The Timbers Army referenced Eastbound & Down's Kenny Powers with their "Cup Bound and Down" tifo for the Portland Timbers' MLS playoff elimination game against Sporting Kansas City on October 29, 2015.
Brondby IF fans display a gladiator holding up a lion's head during the team's Danish Alka Superliga match against FC Copenhagen, whose logo is a lion's head, on September 27, 2015.
New England Revolution fans equate Jermaine Jones to Indiana Jones on their quest to capture the 2015 MLS Cup on September 26, 2015.
New England Revolution fans display a Lion King theme in honor of Orlando City FC's first visit to Gillette Stadium on September 5, 2015.
Red Bulls fans take a shot at NYCFC's two summer arrivals, 37-year-old Frank Lampard and 36-year-old Andrea Pirlo, ahead of their third MLS meeting of 2015.
Germany fans in Cologne salute their World Cup champions ahead of a friendly against the United States in June, 2015.
Real Madrid fans went all out prior to the second leg of the 2014-15 Champions League semifinal vs. Juventus.
Lazio fans display a stunning eagle tifo ahead of the Rome derby against AS Roma in their penultimate Serie A match of the 2014-15 season.
Barcelona fans bid farewell to veteran midfielder Xavi with this banner at his last league game at Camp Nou before he departs for Qatari club Al Sadd.
Fans at Anfield pay tribute to Steven Gerrard in his final home match as a Liverpool player in May 2015.
Juventus fans state their case to beat Real Madrid in the 2014-15 Champions League semifinals and reach the final in Berlin.
Fans at Benfica's Estadio da Luz remind rival Porto who the Primeira Liga reigning champion is during an April 2015 match in Portugal.
New York Red Bulls fans send a pointed message to their NYCFC counterparts prior to the teams' first MLS meeting in May, 2015.
Inter Milan's Curva Nord announces its presence ahead of the April 2015 Derby della Madonnina–the annual clashes between city rivals Inter and AC Milan.
Bayern Munich fans implore their club to (translated) "Never give up" in the Champions League quarterfinal second leg vs. Porto. Bayern then turned a 3-1 first-leg deficit into a 7-4 aggregate win and a place in the semifinals.
Dortmund fans commemorate their 1997 Champions League trophy in the club's clash vs. Juventus–the opponent on the wrong side of that title bout.
Portland Timbers fans speak out against homophobia with this tifo in a 2013 match against Chivas USA
Atletico's supporters display a banner reading "Atleti crushes" before the Spanish league match between Atletico Madrid and FC Barcelona at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid,
Borussia Dortmund fans put on a remarkable display ahead of a UEFA Champions League quarterfinal second leg match.
Brondby IF fans unveil a tifo ahead of a match in Denmark against Randers FC.
FC Barcelona fans display a huge banner in memory of former head coach Tito Vilanova.
Galatasaray fans support their team during the UEFA Champions League Group D match between Borussia Dortmund and Galatasaray at the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul.
The American Outlaws unveil a huge tifo ahead of a 2014 World Cup send-off match between the USA and Turkey at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J.
Marseille's supporters use paper sheets to create an "OM" (Olympique de Marseille) tifo at the beginning of the French L1 football match between Marseille and Genoble.
Seattle Sounders fans display their tifo that shows coach Sigi Schmid playing cards and holding a Royal Flush before a match against the Portland Timbers.
Panathinaikos Athens fans display a banner during the UEFA Europa League match against Dynamo Moscow.
Fans of the Saudi Al-Hilal team celebrate after the scoring of a goal against Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor.
Seattle Sounders fans unveil a tifo inspired from the “Build a Bonfire” chant, featuring Sounder players holding torches on horseback ahead of a game against the Portland Timbers.
Fans of Hertha BSC before the Bundesliga match between Hertha BSC and Werder Bremen in Berlin.
Sporting Kansas City fans channel their inner Mario ahead of the 2013 MLS Cup final vs. Real Salt Lake.
Brondby IF fans.
Thousands of Barcelona fans hold up cards to spell out "Barca! Orgull," which translates to "Barcelona pride" ahead of a Champions League clash with Bayern Munich at Camp Nou.
Fans raise a tifo celebrating “Community, Club and Country” ahead of a CONCACAF Gold Cup match between the USA and Belize in Portland, Oregon.
Vitesse fans unfurl a massive Eagle banner at the Dutch Eredivisie match against Ajax at the GelreDome.
Valencia fans drape a banner featuring a king for a Copa del Rey ("The King's Cup) match against Atletico Madrid.
Juventus fans make a statement in Turin in a match vs. Inter Milan.
Dortmund fans put on another strong display at a Bundesliga match against Mainz 05.
German fans boast the newest star earned by the national team, symbolizing its 2014 World Cup triumph, at a Euro 2016 qualifying match in Dortmund.
Real Madrid fans make a point to display the club's 10 European championships ahead of the October 2014 clash against rival Barcelona at the Bernabeu.
San Jose Earthquakes fans unleash a massive tifo to mark the opening of Avaya Stadium, MLS's newest soccer-specific venue, in March 2015.
Barcelona fans show all who the real 12th man is ahead of the March 2015 Clásico vs. Real Madrid.
Ahead of a clash with Mexican foe Monterrey, Tigres players are treated by this message by its fervent supporters.
Standard Liege fans have a pointed message for Steven Defour, who departed the club for Belgian rival Anderlecht.
Orlando City fans mark their club's inaugural MLS game vs. fellow expansion side New York City FC with a statement that the Lions' "reign begins now."
Real Madrid fans salute Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo after he captured the most prestigious individual prize in world soccer again.
Vitesse fans pay homage to Operation Market Garden ahead of an Eredivisie match against SC Heerenveen.
Sevilla's fans deploy a giant banner in the stands before the UEFA Europa league final match between Benfica and Sevilla.
Fans in Liverpool’s Kop End at Anfield commemorate those lost in the Hillsborough disaster.
Lyon fans during a game against Saint Etienne.
A journalist, broadcaster and consultant, Ben Lyttleton also wrote the book on PKs with his “Twelve Yards: The Art and Psychology of the Penalty Kick.”