Barzagli: More fun with Allegri

By Football Italia staff

Former Juventus defender Andrea Barzagli has confessed that he had more ‘fun’ playing for Max Allegri than Antonio Conte.

Barzagli retired from professional football at the end of last season, and the 38-year-old believes his playing career reached its natural conclusion.

“I decided it was time to quit during the season,” he told JTV.

“From a physical point of view, it wasn’t a good year for me. Eventually I realised it was time to hang up my boots.

“To play for Juve at these levels, you must be in top condition. In the end, it was fitting that I could finish like this.

“I honestly didn’t expect a send-off like the one I got. I thought I’d get just a round of applause, not the reaction I got.

“The President and the players gave me a wonderful gift before the game. When I got up that morning, I was restless and agitated.

“When they called my name, I was excited and proud. They did it with Alex Del Piero and Gigi Buffon, two legendary players.

“It’s an honour to be held in the same consideration as them and it made me so happy, I couldn’t ask for a better ending to my career.”

The World Cup winner joined the Bianconeri from Bundesliga side Wolfsburg in January 2011 for only €300,000 and went to play 281 times, lifting 16 trophies.

“I remember arriving in Turin late at night, and the next day I went and had my medical,” he continued.

“My wife went for a walk and said that the city was beautiful, Turin is perfect. Most of us live in the city centre, it’s not unusual to see the players in the city. No-one bothers them.

“Fabio Paratici came to see me in Germany. He turned my career around. I’d always dreamt of playing for a big club. After winning the World Cup I joined Wolfsburg and when Juve came calling, I immediately said ‘yes’.

“I’ll always be thankful to Gigi Del Neri as he gave me my Serie A debut at Chievo and then brought me to Juve from Germany.

“He is a great person and, as a Coach, played with a high defensive line.”

The Old Lady won the first of their eight consecutive Scudetti during the 2011-2012 campaign, when their award-winning ‘BBC’ backline was first deployed properly.

“The ‘BBC’ was born in the game away to Napoli. Antonio Conte decided he was going to play 3-5-2 and, from then on, we were very successful playing that formation, while giving very little away to our opponents.

“When the new stadium opened, everything changed. Victories give you the motivation to want to keep on winning. The Scudetto made us grow even more.

“You feel the pressure when you play for Juve; it's not like at other clubs, where if you lose you might receive some criticism. Here you have so much more attention on you.”

Barzagli only scored two goals for Juve, both of which came against Atalanta. The first was an injury-time penalty in a 3-1 win at the Allianz Stadium in May 2012.

“I was the only player who hadn’t scored that season, I didn’t even think anyone remembered that I was the only one without a goal.

“When I stepped up to the spot I was thinking, ‘I hope this goes in, I don’t want to make a fool of myself.’”

Finally, he was asked about the differences between working under Allegri and Conte.

“Under Conte, we played with a more intense pace, while with Allegri we had more fun and played with the ball more. I enjoyed it; I was able to joke about a bit.”

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