Juventus: 5 things we learned from the 2020/21 season

Juventus‘ 2020/21 season was nothing short of a rollercoaster but in the end, an inevitable sight recurred: a bunch of zebra-striped shirts hosting aloft silverware.

Andrea Pirlo’s debut season a the helm returned the Suppercoppa Italiana and Coppa Italia to Turin, while Napoli’s slip-up on the final day gifted them a much-needed Champions League spot following a pretty torrid second half to the campaign.

Nevertheless, the Bianconeri’s late surge had left the hierarchy with a tough decision regarding their novice coach. However, the temptation of Massimiliano Allegri proved overriding.

A huge summer awaits as the club seeks to return to Calcio supremacy as swiftly as possible but first, let’s debrief a campaign that’ll be remembered – with both fondness and disdain – for quite some time.

Here are five things that we learned from Juve’s 2020/21 season.

1. Andrea Pirlo deserved a second gig

My opinion on Andrea Pirlo has vacillated drastically in recent weeks, with the novice boss subject to often unwarranted opprobrium by the Italian media throughout his debut campaign. However, the season’s finale had convinced me he was worthy of another season at the helm.

Rookie mistakes were rife and it was his apparent failure to learn from such errors amid Juve’s patchy run of form during the third quarter of the season that convinced me he perhaps wasn’t up to the task.

But after claiming two pieces of silverware, helping a Juve claim a top-four spot against the odds and coaching superbly to round off the campaign, I had leant towards #PirloIn before Thursday’s revelation regarding Massimiliano Allegri’s return.

While the move’s certainly harsh on Pirlo, I totally understand the club’s decision. With Antonio Conte out the door at Inter, Juve are now in a prime position to regain their place as Italy’s supreme force.

As for Pirlo, what beckons in the next stage of his young coaching career is a mystery. Sassuolo has been touted as a possible destination following Roberto De Zerbi’s exit. It’d be a great move for the Italian, who displayed plenty of promise during his maiden season in senior management.

Should his career embark on an upward trajectory from this moment forward, it certainly wouldn’t be a surprise to see him return to the Juventus bench further down the line.