The two former greats spoke about the many memories over the years of victories with Conte and Allegri on the bench, Del Piero, Pogba, Buffon and other champions as companions
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An evening with friends, concluded with a wine tasting that becomes a fun quiz. Red and obviously white wines, even if the theme is Bianconeri forever. Andrea Barzagli and Claudio Marchisio, in strict alphabetical order, deserved more applause for their memories than for tasting disguised bottles (Barzagli is a producer and Marchisio remembered the times when his father took him to harvest). But the theme was obviously their Juve, the team that by winning nine consecutive championships shattered previous records. Starting with Conte and continuing with Allegri, who added two Champions League finals to his championships. “Antonio arrived with clear ideas. With the Juve DNA that he had within him as a former captain,” says Marchisio. And Barzagli: “The team came from two seventh places, but there was a series of disagreements that were dictated by everyone’s ideas, enthusiasm and the hard work that Conte made us do. We weren’t the strongest that time. year, but we were the best.”
THE BBC AND ALEX’S GOODBYE
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It was the season of the birth of the BBC: Giorgio Chiellini appeared on the screen in a video message during the meeting hosted by Fabiana Della Valle, who asked for memories of the various tactical changes of the team. “Against Napoli Conte wanted to play mirror with Mazzarri. He got the idea of having a threesome. It was tough, that match didn’t go so well because we drew but the right mix was created. With Buffon in goal,” said Barzagli. And Marchisio: “There were many important changes in that year. We also tried the 4-2-4 and in the Berlusconi trophy Milan gave us a hard time like this. With the arrival of Pirlo and Vidal other changes and a new solidity. The team with those three behind had balance.” And then Paul Pogba was added. “It took us 48 hours to understand that he was strong. As soon as he arrived, he entered the field to take his place. Sometimes I was on the bench too to let him play. Stories of Juve, stories of Juve. A special evening was the one that combined the celebrations for the scudetto with Del Piero’s farewell, which Barzagli recounted jokingly, starting from a penalty that he didn’t want to take. “A magical year, if I also scored…”. And Marchisio: “No one wanted to play that match, we had had an evening the day before to celebrate Del Piero. Only Del Piero and Manninger wanted to play it, we hid while Antonio made the formation on the blackboard. We were celebrating the championship after a long time, but we were all emotional about Ale’s farewell. A moment I will never forget.”
pain champions
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Scudetti, scudetti that come in series, but there was also talk of the two Champions League finals lost. Barzagli: “Both were hard to swallow. A victory in Europe would have closed the circle. We found two stronger teams, many will remember them throughout history. The bitter taste remains. But in those years in Italy we did something important in the difficulty of always proving that we were the strongest. The great strength of that Juventus was the spirit of the club, a president who was never satisfied, we almost created problems for ourselves to shake things up. Winning again is the most difficult thing. The environment was never satiated. If you win nine years in a row it means you have built a perfect mentality.” Marchisio: “If we all go in the same direction, together with talent you create winning cycles”.
DUSAN BETTER THAN BIG ROM
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From the past to the present, with a caress from Barzagli for Vlahovic: “In perspective, he has more than Lukaku who is very difficult to mark at the moment. Let’s give him time.” And Marchisio is also optimistic about the Juventus future, but with reservations. “The team didn’t start badly. He hasn’t found his final shape, but now it depends on the physical state of Vlahovic and Chiesa. Even now, however, there are other problems, after those of last year. It’s true that Juve have tough skin, but we need to do a total cleanup and give this team a new face.” Needless to say, applause erupted from the packed Santa Chiara Auditorium, even louder if possible.
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