Andrea Pirlo said he had no regrets about taking the Juventus job after being sacked on Friday after one season as manager and replaced by Massimiliano Allegri.
Pirlo was appointed with no senior coaching experience and led the reigning Serie A champions to fourth place. Allegri has returned for a second spell on a contract understood to be to 2025.
“It’s been an intense, complicated year but still wonderful,” Pirlo said. “When I got the call from Juventus, I never thought about the risk I was taking. If I had to go back I would make the exact same choice again, although aware of all the obstacles I encountered in such a difficult time for everyone, which prevented me from better planning my intentions and my style of play.
“This adventure, despite an unexpected ending, made it even clearer what I would like my future to be, which I hope will be just as complete and fulfilling as the one I experienced as a player.”
Juventus said in a statement confirming Pirlo’s departure: “For the courage, the dedication, the passion with which he demonstrated every day, our thanks go to the maestro, the coach and to Andrea, that really comes from the heart. As well as our good luck for the future that will surely be a wonderful one. These are the first words that all of us need to say at the end of this special experience together.”
Pirlo was looking to make it 10 successive Serie A titles for Juventus but struggled. The team even headed into the final day facing the prospect of failing to qualify for the Champions League for the first time since 2011-12, but victory over Bologna, and other results going their way, saw them scrape in. Pirlo won the Coppa Italia by beating Atalanta this month.
Allegri won five Serie A titles in a row in his first spell at Juventus between 2014 and 2019, as well as lifting the Coppa Italia four times and finishing as Champions League runners-up twice, but he has not coached since.
Juventus said: “Allegri finds a bench that he knows very well, a club that he loves and that loves him back, as today a new journey begins together, towards new goals.”
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