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Football

28th May 2021

Juventus’ bizarre manager announcement explained

Danny Jones

We already know Juventus are set to appoint Massimiliano Allegri but the Old Lady is milking it for all it’s worth

Yesterday, we learned that Juventus had decided to sack club legend Andrea Pirlo after just a year on the job, as he failed to win them the league title for the first time in a decade.

At the same time, as per Fabrizio Romano, it was revealed that former coach Massimiliano Allegri would rejoin the club, just two years on from his five-season stint at the club coming to an end. Unlike Pirlo, Allegri won the Scudetto at every time of asking, won four Coppa Italia’s and was runner-up in two Champions League finals. It was confirmed at 2pm on the 28th of May.

It turned out that between Maurizio Sarri and Pirlo, the grass isn’t always greener and the giants of Turin have decided to backtrack on their decision and reappoint him on a deal until 2025.

Nevertheless, before the official announcement, Juve did some curious drip-feeding of cryptic teasers that, admittedly, not everyone will be able to place. This was the first one:

Strange, right? For those who aren’t too up on their American geography, that shape is the state of Minnesota in the US; now, as for why that’s got anything to do with Allegri, we have Reddit user /Andreinik to thank for that one:

“For context: Allegri during one of his press conferences, talked about that when he was younger he bet on a horse called Minnesota. Someone said to him that it was more likely that he would have coached in Serie A one day than the horse win the race. The horse won and he managed to coach both Milan and Juve”.

Pretty niche reference, we must admit. Then came the next one, which some people may have found easier to spot.

In a game back in 2015 – less than a year into his tenure – Allegri’s Juventus side ended up capitulating to draw 3-3 against a struggling Capri with just seconds left on the clock. They were leading 3-1, then came a Bonucci own goal followed by an equaliser in the 93rd minute – which caused him to chuck his blazer on the ground in frustration.

Ahhh, it all makes sense now and we definitely remember that game, honest…

We must say, it was a pretty fun little ride while it lasted and we all pretended we didn’t already know it would be Allegri, so thanks again to the Bianconeri for making us ‘work’ for it.