BEFORE the second leg of their Champions League tie with Atlético Madrid, it seemed Max Allegri had outstayed his welcome at Juventus. In the first meeting at the Wanda Metropolitano Stadium, the Bianconeri boss had made some serious mistakes, his negative approach backfiring completely as Los Colchoneros ran out 2-0 winners.
Given the usual defensive solidity of Diego Simeone’s Atléti, it seemed almost certain that the Italian giants would be eliminated, and the prospect of this expensively assembled side crashing out so early was always going to have repercussions for Allegri. There is no doubt this current incarnation of Juve was built with the sole aim of winning in Europe, making such a premature exit – even at the hands of such a quality opponent – almost unforgivable.
The Italian papers focussed heavily on potential replacements, most agreeing that Zinedine Zidane, Didier Deschamps and Antonio Conte would be the likeliest names on the Old Lady’s shortlist. It was hard to imagine either of the latter pair returning for a second spell in Turin, however, particularly with the current management team intent on looking to the future rather than revisiting the past.
To further complicate matters just 24 hours before the second meeting with Atléti, Zizou was re-appointed by Real Madrid, taking over from former team-mate Santiago Solari who had struggled to improve the team just as Julen Lopetegui had before him. Suddenly, on the brink of Champions League elimination and quickly seeing their alternative options taken away, it seemed as if Juventus – despite sitting 18 points clear at the top of the Serie A table and on the brink of an eighth-consecutive Scudetto – were a club in crisis.
Then the real Max Allegri stood up.
By the time the final whistle blew at the end of the second leg, the 51-year-old had refuted every concern about his coaching and answered every criticism levelled at him over the previous two weeks. Instead of dour and negative, he had sent his players out with instructions to be proactive from the outset, disrupting Atléti with some carefully orchestrated high pressing which owed much to the selection of his starting XI.
Emre Can started over Rodrigo Bentancur, dropping in alongside Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini to create a three-man defence at times, something the opposition were clearly not prepared to deal with.
“Tactically I’d never played like that before,” the midfielder told German newspaper Bild. “We kept switching between a back three and back four. It was a brilliant move by Allegri, who acted like a chess player, and his plan was completely successful as, for the first time in the club’s history, we overturned a 2-0 deficit in the Champions League.”
Elsewhere, Federico Bernardeschi was given the nod over Paulo Dybala, the Italian repaying Allegri’s faith with an impactful display that highlighted just how much better he fits this team than the Argentinian star.
"It went great, we played an extraordinary match and we were really good throughout,” Bernardeschi told reporters in the mixed zone that same night. “We trusted and we always believed, that let us me successful and it’s the same thing with my improvement; it is down to willpower and a desire to go beyond one's limits. But the real credit belongs to the coach, he is the one who puts us on the field!”
His players clearly believed in him. But what matters most is that the man on the sidelines completely changed the conversation surrounding his future. No longer was it obvious that Allegri will move on this summer, and he could even punctuate his Juventus tenure by becoming only the third coach in the club’s history to lift Europe’s most prestigious trophy.
Writing his name alongside those of Giovanni Trapattoni and Marcello Lippi would cement his legacy, and it would also make him extremely difficult to replace. Conte’s lack of Champions League success would – despite his undeniable status as a Juventus legend – certainly be viewed as a backwards step, while prying Deschamps away from his role with World Cup winners France might be impossible.
Zidane returning to the Bernabeu makes him join Pep Guardiola as an impossible target, and it might see Juve make a surprising appointment, just as they did in handing the reins to Allegri back in 2014. Given the attacking prowess of the team and a desire to continually improve could see a previously unmentioned name enter the fray, with the chance to lead Ronaldo and co. almost impossible to refuse.
If Allegri is to keep his job then, the boss will need to do that again and avoid the pitfalls that befell him in the first leg. Juventus needed Max Allegri to change and he did. Now he just has to stay that way!
A £10 bet on Juve to win the Champions League returns £42.50
