Allegri and Spalletti: barbs, jokes and tiring handshakes

Never friends. Better to say “acquaintances”, as Allegri explained some time ago. Max and Luciano, different Tuscans. One is “Acciughina”, the other is “Lucio”. One comes from the hill, the other from the sea. A life of opposites. They faced each other almost forty years ago as footballers in a C1 Livorno-Spezia match – the only time, won by the Ligurians – and on Sunday they will be rivals on the benches of Milan and Juventus. As coaches they never tolerated each other and their relationship is punctuated by digs and phrases that have become cult: from “different hair” to a “chase” for a handshake, up to the cacciucco. Here are six episodes that summarize a relationship… that never began.