Juventus Against Napoli Sees Antonio Conte Confront History

One day he was there, the next, gone.

It’s been over 10 years since Antonio Conte walked out on Juventus one day into pre-season training amid frustrations with the Juve hierarchy over transfers and burnout. The wounds have never truly healed.

Conte was due to embark on his fourth season in charge of the club he captained as a player, but after the club missed out on signing Hellas Verona winger Juan Iturbe to Roma, Conte quite the club.

Conte had returned to Turin three years earlier, and was given the mandate of restoring the Bianconeri to greatness once again after six years of struggle post-Calciopoli. Conte proved up to the challenge, and then some. He won the Scudetto in his first season in charge, going unbeaten in the process. He revitalised the careers of Andrea Pirlo and Gianluigi Buffon, while morphing Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini into one of the game’s greatest defensive units this century.

Conte personified Juventus more than any coach since Marcello Lippi; displaying the same grinta (an Italian word used to display determination or grit) on the sidelines as he did on the pitch for the club in the 1990s and early ‘00s. He took the club to a Champions League quarter final in his second season, their first quarter final since 2006, and won another Scudetto. The third season saw more league success, reaching triple digit points, but the lack of success in Europe punctured small holes in Conte’s reputation.

The feeling was that Conte, like Fabio Capello before him, was more of a manager suited to the marathon-style competition of a league, as opposed to the more spontaneous nature of cup competitions. An early exit in the Champions League meant a run in the Europa League and, with the final in the Juventus Stadium, the pressure was on to win the competition. Juve lost to Benfica in the semi final, in a game which exposed the flaws in Conte’s 3-5-2 system and repeated patterns of play. 

Losing out on Iturbe was more the straw that broke the camel’s back, rather than the fundamental reason Conte walked away. “I saw big problems in small things, so I decided to go,” he said years later. Conte has since admitted he regrets walking out on Juve, yet at the time believed the lack of major investment was going to stop the club from winning more trophies. 

His replacement, Max Allegri, took essentially the same group of players to within 90 minutes of a treble, beaten only by the brilliance of Barcelona containing a peak Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez in Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

The manner of Conte’s exit burnt a bridge with Juve, and it was reported that when the possibility of him returning in the summer of 2019 was mentioned, then-president Andrea Agnelli vetoed the idea instantly. Joining Inter that summer also muddied the water with the Bianconeri fanbase, with a petition containing over 15,000 signatures demanding his star be removed from the stadium. Even with Agnelli now out of the club and the relationship between the pair now fixed, the chances of Conte ever returning to the club he’s most-associated with remain slim.

Now in charge of Napoli, Conte returns to Turin on Saturday evening and will face his old side in a packed stadium for the first time since leaving. In the lead-up to the game, the 54-year-old touched on the topic of his old side.

“I had the opportunity to coach Juventus for three years during a difficult period, starting a cycle that led to nine consecutive league titles. I am part of Juventus’ history for what I did and contributed,” he said. “As a player, it’s easier to choose to stay forever.

“But as a coach, it’s very difficult, almost impossible, to decide your own career,” he added. 

Conte’s former and latest club go into the game in very good form. Juve are unbeaten this season and have only conceded once in five games in all competitions under Thiago Motta; while Napoli have recovered from an opening day defeat by Verona to win three consecutive games. Romelu Lukaku’s arrival has given Conte the target man his team so badly needed amid the turbulent Victor Osimhen situation, while the signings of David Neres, Scott McTominay and Billy Gilmour will give Conte more options in midfield and attack.

Motta is attempting to juggle the myriad of new signings Juve made in the summer, but is so far slowly moulding a new-look team in his image. Yet among the excitement of seeing the likes of Teun Koopmeiners, Douglas Luiz, Khephren Thuram and Nico Gonzalez integrate is the very pressing issue of trying to get the best out of Dusan Vlahovic, who looks increasingly lost in Motta’s team.

This is a match between second and fourth; north and south, a fixture that rarely disappoints. For Napoli fans, leaving Turin with a victory is the biggest scalp, with hatred for the 36-time champions as strong as a Neapolitan espresso.

Now with Conte on the Napoli bench, there’s even extra spice. What kind of reception he receives come this evening will be interesting.