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At the start of the 2019-20 season, Juventus hired Maurizio Sarri from Chelsea after sacking Massimiliano Allegri. The former AC Milan manager had guided Juventus to four consecutive Serie A and Copa Italia titles.
Under Allegri, Juventus also managed to twice reach the Champions League final but fell short on each occasion. After failing to translate their domestic dominance to success on the European front, Juventus brought in Maurizio Sarri.
The new Juventus boss had made his name during his three-year stint at Napoli where his side played attacking and attractive football but failed to land the Serie A title. In the 2017/18 season, Sarri's Napoli finished second despite garnering 93 points, as Allegri's Juventus beat them to the title by two points.
Sarri was coming off a Europa League triumph with Chelsea in 2018-19. But in the three preceding seasons, Sarri's Napoli failed to win a knockout round tie in Europe. The Serie A side made Round-of -32 exits in the Europa League either side of a defeat in the Champions League Round of 16.
Allegri did indeed pay the price for failing to land the Champions League during his five years at Juventus. Sarri's Europe League success with Chelsea probably lulled Juventus into thinking that the 61-year-old was the man to lead the club to success in the Champions League.
But it must be remembered that during Allegri's five seasons at the club, Juventus made two finals, as many quarterfinals and a Round of 16 appearance in the Champions League. Sarri's team, on the other hand, failed to win a knockout round tie in two seasons in the competition.
Thus, compared with Allegri's European credentials, Sarri's could be termed modest at best. Thus the decision to hand over Juventus' reins to Sarri made little sense if success in the Champions League was the objective because it was clear that Sarri was not an upgrade on Allegri.
It has been clear for a while that Juventus want to win the Champions League after last winning the competition almost two and a half decades ago. To realise their European ambition, Juventus brought in a 33-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in the summer of 2018.
The move made Juventus one of the favourites for the 2018-19 Champions League title because of Ronaldo's pedigree and achievements in the competition.
After taking his time to acquaint himself with his new surroundings, Ronaldo produced a fabulous hat-trick against Atletico Madrid that helped Juventus overcome a 0-2 Round of 16 first-leg deficit. However, in the quarterfinals, despite Ronaldo scoring in each leg, Juventus were ousted by a youthful Ajax side.
The Juventus board comprising, the likes of Andrea Agnelli and Pavel Nedved, decided that the Bianconeri now needed to play attacking football rather than the pragmatic one they played under Conte and Allegri.
Enter Maurizio Sarri. The Italian was managing Chelsea and Juve had to pay the Blues compensation to bring him to Allianz Stadium. To be fair, he hasn’t done too badly in Turin, they have secured the Serie A title. He also led Juve to a Coppa Italia final, only to lose on penalties against his former side Napoli.
The Bianconeri are only trailing Lyon by one goal and they will welcome them in August in the Champions League in the Round of 16. However, there have been a few causes for concern along their way to the Serie A title this time.
Can Sarri deliver Champions League success for Juventus?
The mood around the club is not that good despite the silverware. The main reason behind this is Juventus' constant failure to play the attacking football that Sarri promised. There is also a feeling that Juve have won the Serie A because other teams haven’t really capitalised when they have dropped points. But why was it a mistake to sack Allegri and sign Sarri?
The sacking of Allegri wasn’t correct, the Ajax team that he faced were too good on the day. No one expected the Dutch giants to play so well, they were literally like a question that came out of the syllabus.
Juventus would have been prepared for the likes of Real Madrid, Barca and other top teams but not for Ajax. This season under Allegri they would have surely won the Serie A earlier and probably the Coppa Italia as well.
The former AC Milan manager is a serial winner and this season as well they would have been the favourites to win the Champions League. But they are not because Sarri has a particular way of playing and Juve haven't really adapted to his style of football.
This could have been the year were they would have won the Champions League, they have a great squad with experienced players, Ronaldo is still playing well and the team understood how Allegri wants them to play.
Also Allegri has great experience of managing this Juve teams in big Champions League games. Having made it to the final already, his big-game experience could have finally taken them all the way.
However, in the long term, the decision was correct. It looks like the long-term idea is to sign Pep Guardiola and for that Juve are preparing a team that can already play attacking football like Manchester City did before the arrival of Guardiola.
It would have been difficult for Guardiola as well to completely change the way Juve play in one season. He could achieve that only if Juventus go on and spend big money and sign new players.
The Juventus board wants to dominate football the way Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona did. The Catalan has also managed to do the same with Manchester City in Premier League but for a short time.
The Bianconeri are already dominant in Italy and they want to now dominate Europe as well. Though Sarri and Pep’s football is different, the idea is same, they both want to play attacking football. Both of them rely on possession-based play created through short, precise passes. Under Allegri, Juve would be happy to sit back and lose possession if it meant that they can win the game.
Under Sarri they want to attack but sometimes they haven’t been able to dominate games like they way they would have liked. Thus the introduction to Sarriball seems to be a plan to lay the foundation for a team that aims to change the football philosophy at Juventus.
If Pep Guardiola indeed does arrive to take the project further, he might have a great foundation to start with. And who knows, if Sarriball is fully ingrained into the Juve ethos, the Italian might himself lead the club to that much-awaited European crown.
