Conte Who? Allegri on Course to Eclipse Juventus Favourite

Leading Monaco 1-0 going into the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final, Juventus are on the cusp of a first semi-final appearance in 12 years, but it took a little help from a man once considered a sworn enemy.

Some 300 Bianconeri supporters were there to greet Massimiliano Allegri upon his appointment as manager of the Old Lady last July, though as Football Italia noted at the time, few were smiling.

To their way of thinking, the recruitment was a betrayal, with Juventus turning to a former enemy in Allegri.

This was the manager, after all, who had helped AC Milan to the 2011 Scudetto while Juve languished down in seventh.

He was the same manager who had come so close to spoiling Juventus’ unbeaten, title-winning Serie A campaign a year later.

Indeed, were it not for an incident dubbed “the ghost goal” by The Guardian following a 1-1 draw between the sides, the Rossoneri may have ended that run.

Only the referee’s failure to spot Sulley Muntari’s legitimate goal that would have put Milan up 2-0 prevented that, with the Bianconeri finishing the season four points clear of Milan.

Since then, Juve have gone from strength to strength, while Milan and Allegri have gone backwards, with the manager unceremoniously ditched in January last year.

Imagine the blow then when it was revealed that not only would Antonio Conte be leaving the club, but he would be replaced by a Milan cast-off in Allegri. Yet all was not as it appeared.

Conte captured three consecutive league titles with the Turin giants but, upon announcing his exit, noted, in quotes published by BBC Sport, that it, "may be more difficult to keep winning with Juventus.”

"I have matured with time and my feelings led me to make this choice," he said.

Though the 45-year-old appeared to point to his concerns that Juve would struggle to dominate domestically, with Roma and Napoli getting stronger, Europe may also have been a concern.

Laurent Cipriani/Associated Press

A Champions League quarter-final appearance in his second season aside, Conte’s Bianconeri had endured a miserable run in the European Cup last term, winning just one of six group games.

Even in the Europa League, with the final played at the Juventus Stadium up for grabs, Juve and Conte could not muster the home win required against Benfica in the semi-finals.

Afterwards, the Italian lost his cool, blaming referee Mark Clattenburg for the result.

“We feel like we're not being taken seriously, and UEFA should show us more respect by sending a referee of the required standard,” he said in quotes carried by Reuters.

Yet for all of Conte’s bluster, the result highlighted a relatively common concern relevant to those behind the scenes at Juventus—they were in danger of becoming dominant domestically while weak on the continent.

With the 45-year-old appearing to conclude he was not the man to take the club to the next level, few would have expected the Turin outfit to turn to Allegri.

But that viewpoint fails to do justice to Allegri’s abilities as a manager.

The man who kick-started Sassuolo’s ascent from Serie C1 also-rans to a Serie A mid-table outfit, it was Allegri who guided the club to Serie B for the first time in 2009.

Cagliari owner Massimo Cellino had seen enough, recruiting the Italian a year later.

LORENZO GALASSI/Associated Press

In just under two seasons at the club, Allegri excelled again, keeping Cagliari in mid-table on a limited budget and earning the Albo Panchina d’Oro award for manager of the season in 2009—just ahead of Conte with Bari at the time.

Recruited by Milan after falling out with Cellino, Allegri captured a first Serie A title in six years during his debut season with the Rossoneri.

Yet one of the biggest achievements of those early years stemmed from the 47-year-old’s ability to compete on three fronts.

In his first two seasons, Allegri’s Milan reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia in consecutive years, as well as taking the league title to the wire on both occasions—winning one and losing another.

All of this came against a backdrop of continued unrest in the ranks, with star players like Kaka and Ronaldinho coming and going during that period and resources proving limited.

Pier Paolo Cito/Associated Press

Things may have ended badly for the Italian with the Rossoneri but in hindsight, his limited success at the club looks all the more remarkable.

Without Allegri, things have hardly got better for Milan, who finished eighth under Clarence Seedorf in 2014 and may not even make the top 10 under Inzaghi.

Their former coach, meanwhile, appears to be working his usual magic at Juventus.

Juventus are in the Coppa Italia final and aiming for a first victory in 20 years, cruising to a fourth consecutive Scudetto, with a great chance of reaching the Champions League semi-finals.

Allegri has also come up trumps in the games that mattered.

There was the 3-0 second-leg semi-final win over Fiorentina at the Artemio Franchi—a ground where they had won on just one of their previous four visits.

Maurizio Degl' Innocenti/Associated Press

Borussia Dortmund were put to the sword in Europe with a 3-0 win at the Westfalenstadion after a run of four straight defeats in Germany.

Lazio, second in Serie A and on a run eight consecutive wins prior to their meeting in Turin, were also downed 2-0 to quash any talk of a late title charge.

The players have also responded to Allegri.

Paul Pogba has equalled his best-ever season for goals for Juve, and Tevez has scored five more goals than he did last term.

Even Andrea Pirlo has come round, with Football Italia reporting that the pair had clear-the-air talks after the player claimed Allegri had forced him out of Milan.

Some may point to the disappointing campaigns of Roma, who have endured a rotten run of four wins in their last 16 league games, and Napoli as giving Allegri an easy ride.

Serie A news, meanwhile, highlighted this notable disparity between Conte’s record at Juventus and Allegri’s at AC Milan in one particular tweet.

But with Wikipedia now putting Allegri’s win percentage at Juve at a hefty 68.89 per cent, it’s becoming apparent that the problems were with Milan rather than their manager.

At this stage, Allegri is in a no-lose situation. Win the league, and he has maintained the success cultivated by Conte.

But go further in the Champions League or win the Coppa Italia, and few can argue against the notion that he has eclipsed his predecessor.