Massimiliano Allegri has returned to Juventus for a second spell as manager of the Serie A giants. The club has announced that Allegri – who enjoyed a trophy-laden first spell in charge from 2014 until 2019 – has signed a contract until 2025.
The decision to reappoint the 53-year-old comes after an unsuccessful year for the club under former player Andrea Pirlo. Juventus decided against keeping hold of the club legend beyond this season and have turned back to the vastly more experienced Allegri in order to take the club forwards.
Massimiliano Allegri Returns as Juventus Manager
Allegri Aiming to Build on Past Successes
Despite having won a raft of domestic trophies over the course of his previous 271 matches as the club’s manager, Juventus let go of Allegri two seasons ago because he had failed to deliver a Champions League title in Turin.
Portugal legend Cristiano Ronaldo was signed by the club in 2018 with the primary objective of firing The Old Lady to a first European Cup triumph since 1996, and it was decided that Allegri would not be the best managerial choice to enable this, having been unsuccessful in two previous Champions League finals as the club’s manager.
Allegri had remained out of work since his 2019 departure, but returns to pick up where he left off, having witnessed Juventus struggle badly both domestically and in Europe in the two years since his exit.
Over the course of his first spell in charge, Allegri won 5 consecutive Serie A titles, and also scooped a further 6 domestic cups to add to the Italian Super Cup he won in 2012 whilst in charge of AC Milan.
Why Juventus Felt Compelled to Reappoint Allegri
Allegri was replaced as manager in 2019 by Maurizio Sarri, who had won the Europa League at the end of his year-long tenure at Chelsea. However, under the guidance of the former banker, the club were only able to pip Inter Milan to the Serie A title by a single point and were knocked out of the Champions League by French underdogs Lyon.
That was enough to prompt another change in management, and Andrea Pirlo was drafted in as Sarri’s replacement. Juventus continued to slide under the inexperienced Pirlo, and saw their nine-year reign as Italian Champions ended by Inter Milan as the club could only muster a fourth-place finish in the league table. Additionally, another hugely disappointing Champions League exit was suffered, this time at the hands of Porto in the round-of-16.
Juventus’ dismissal of Allegri has since been accepted by the club’s hierarchy as a mistake, and he returns with the objective of leading the club back to the heights of his first spell at the helm.
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