The legendary cycle in Italy and the two Champions League finals. Then the collapse, from the Ronaldo gamble to the Superlega project
Long and successful reign, probably unrepeatable in Italy. Andrea Agnelli was president of Juventus from 19 May 2010 to last Wednesday (18 January), when he officially ended his career after his resignation from the board on 28 November. Of the 4,627 days spent at the helm of the club, he spent 3,282 as the champion of Italy (71%). Merit of the incredible cycle of 9 consecutive championships inaugurated by Conte’s hat-trick (2012, 2013, 2014), brought into legend by Allegri (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019) and finished by Maurizio Sarri (2020), the great rival of the times in Naples hired by Chelsea after the triumph in the Europa League to try to revolutionize the style and game of the Lady. Sarri won, but the project imploded (almost) in the bud.
So Agnelli, after the Pirlo experiment – catapulted to the bench as an absolute rookie – opted for the restoration and return of Allegri, the coach par excellence of the AA presidency. In the twelve and a half years of empire, from the debut in the Europa League preliminaries at the home of modest Shamrock Rovers (29 July 2010, 0-2 with braces from Amauri and Delneri on the bench) to the 5-1 suffered at Napoli, c ‘it was also so much more. The trophies in all are 19 (9 championships, 5 Italian Cups and 5 Super Cups) and make him the most titled president in the club’s history. Even without the Champions League, faded in the two finals against Barcelona (2015) and Real Madrid (2017).
An escalation experienced by Agnelli hand in hand with his deputy Nedved and also built on the market, blow by blow, first thanks to the Marotta-Paratici couple, from the CR7 affair onwards with only Paratici and finally by Cherubini, the architect of the project “second team” considered an excellence of the company on a par with the Women’s team, founded in 2017.
The pains
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In the midst of so many successes, not surprisingly that began with the inauguration of the Stadium (September 8, 2011), there was no shortage of hard times. More off the field than inside: from the management of some members following the disqualifications for the “soccer betting” (2012) to the farce exam of Luis Suarez (2021), which created more embarrassment than anything else, passing through the process for capital gains and the Superlega issue. On March 27 Juve, Agnelli and the other eleven suspects (including the former Nedved, Arrivabene and Paratici) will find themselves before the Gup Marco Picco for the preliminary hearing relating to the Prisma investigation conducted by the Turin prosecutor’s office. According to the prosecutors, Juve rigged the financial statements from 2018 to 2021 through “fictitious capital gains” and “salary maneuvers” (deferment of the monthly payments due to players during the Covid period). The latter also involved Cristiano Ronaldo, the coup of the century signed in person by the president together with Paratici and agent Mendes, and the thesis of the magistrates is that Cristiano still boasts a credit of 19.9 million against the club. It is no coincidence that the Portuguese lawyers have requested – and obtained – the documents of the investigation in recent days.
CR7 represented the pinnacle of the Agnelli era barrels (previously Bonucci, Barzagli, Pirlo, Vidal, Pogba, Tevez, Khedira, Mandzukic, Pjanic, Higuain, De Ligt, Chiesa, Vlahovic…) and scored 101 goals . On balance, an excessive luxury, also due to Covid and the closure of the stadiums.
January 21, 2023 (change January 21, 2023 | 10:00)
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