Juventus go out empty-handed in the march back to glory

When Massimiliano Allegri returned to coach Juventus for the second time, hopes revived that the Turin club would return to its former glory, but after 12 months, not much has been achieved in the return process so far. Juventus’ loss against Inter Milan in the Italian Cup final on Wednesday (4-2) means that the most successful Italian league clubs will leave the season without any title for the first time since the 2010-2011 season, while occupying fourth place among the league teams, and exiting the competition for the local title.
During his first period at the head of the technical staff of Juventus, Allegri won the Italian league title five times in a row between 2014 and 2019, but the team stumbled at the European level this season as well, as it was eliminated from the round of sixteen in the Champions League for the third year in a row. It wasn’t supposed to happen. Juventus used the services of its former star Andrea Pirlo to lead the team during the 2020-2021 season in an effort to win the local title for the tenth time in a row, and to provide a more exciting and attractive performance.
Pirlo was sacked after a lackluster performance and the team failed to defend the title and finished fourth, which was considered unacceptable given the club’s status and achievements. Therefore, the future of coach Allegri is still at stake, after the team lost twice in two finals against Inter Milan in the Super Cup and the Italian Cup, and is close to occupying fourth place in the league again, given that it is four points behind Napoli, third before the last two rounds of the season.
Allegri confirmed that he does not regret returning, but the many criticisms leveled at him by the media, and by former players, may have an impact on the situation. The referee of the Cup final on Wednesday expelled coach Allegri due to the severity of his objections, as he had on a previous occasion also entered into an argument with a member of the Inter Milan staff, and publicly criticized his team players during the season. “One of the Inter staff kicked me as he passed me,” Allegri said in televised statements. “I was angry and the referee sent me off immediately.” “What happened is over,” Allegri added. We learn from these experiences. It is a pity that we did not win against Inter Milan in the league and did not avenge that evening either. We didn’t win any titles this season, we have to direct this anger towards next season, where we will have to win titles again. And it seems that Allegri will get a new opportunity to restructure and prepare Juventus to compete for the Italian league title next season, at a time when the two Milan teams present a strong performance, which heralds a strong competition that awaits all parties.
And things were good for Inter coach Simone Inzaghi, who won his second title with his first season with the team, having previously won the Italian Super Cup. The next goal will be the league title, although it is two points behind rivals AC Milan, with two rounds remaining. “This team never gives up,” Inzaghi said. I’ve always been getting feedback from the team since July and until today, we’ve been through a volatile period. We have two league games and we want to finish the season in the best possible way.”