RANKED: Top 10 Juve/Milan coaches of all time
10 - Cestmir Vycpalek (Juventus)
9 - Massimiliano Allegri (Milan-Juventus)
8 - Antonio Conte (Juventus)
7 - Nils Liedholm (Milan)
The only two foreign managers in this ranking surround Antonio Conte and Massimiliano Allegri, who have won the last five Serie A titles between them. Allegri’s presence may not please many, as the Livornese coach isn’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to building teams. Responsible for hounding Andrea Pirlo out of Milan, he ultimately joined up with the playmaker in Turin, where they would win a Serie A title together, as well as lose last season’s Champions League final.
Allegri deserves credit for improving on Conte’s record in Europe, as well as winning Serie A with a Rossoneri team that wasn’t very good to begin with. His biggest test will come this season, with the Old Lady going through a make-over herself following the departures of Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo.
6 - Fabio Capello (Milan-Juventus)
5 - Carlo Ancelotti (Juventus-Milan)
4 - Giovanni Trapattoni (Milan-Juventus)
Fabio Capello is just behind the two “students”, Giovanni Trapattoni and Carlo Ancelotti. Il Trap played for a number of years under the legendary Nereo Rocco, even acting as his right-hand man before being cherry-picked by Juventus. What a decision that turned out to be, as the Cusano Milanino native went on to win seven Serie A titles, four with Juventus in the space of his first eleven-year stint with the Old Lady.
Il Trap’s first Juventus side even racked up a stunning 51 points, still a record today in the two-point, sixteen-team Serie A format. It would be broken by Inter by the time the league was allowed to expand. Who were they led by? You’ve guessed it, Giovanni Trapattoni, who also won a European Cup final with the Bianconeri (at Heysel), a UEFA Cup, a Cup Winners’ Cup and the Intercontinental Cup.
Carlo Ancelotti, for his part, learned from Arrigo Sacchi, and was unlucky to lose two Serie A title races with Juventus, though the Bianconeri had their own destiny in their hands until the last. Particularly heart-breaking for Old Lady fans is the 1999-2000 season, when Perugia beat them to allow Lazio to lift only their second Scudetto ever.
Carletto didn’t struggle to obtain forgiveness, leading Milan to two Champions League trophies - as well as another absurd defeat in Instabul. His Milan side of 2003-2004 was a thing of beauty, losing only two games on the way to 83 points and a string of beautiful performances.
It sounds preposterous now, but many believed Fabio Capello to be a Berlusconian stooge when he was brought in to replace the departing Arrigo Sacchi. Instead, he quickly imposed his tough, defensive style on a talented team that had played great football, but had tended to tire out as the season went along.
The former Juventus midfielder took the opposite approach to the Trap, winning four Serie A titles with rivals Milan and adding one of the most emphatic thrashings in Champions League history, crucifying Barcelona to the tune of four goals in Athens in 2004. Moreover, his first Milan team won the 1991-1992 Scudetto having gone unbeaten, and only conceding 21 goals.
He would arrive at Juventus in 2004, with Marcello Lippi’s methods having failed after two Scudettos in Turin. Capello would go on to win two Serie A titles at the Delle Alpi, though Calciopoli would do away with them, whilst European glory evaded him, too.
3 - Nereo Rocco (Milan)
2 - Marcello Lippi (Juventus)
1 - Arrigo Sacchi (Milan)
Marcello Lippi finds himself sandwiched between two completely opposite styles, Arrigo Sacchi’s attacking football and Nereo Rocco’s catenaccio.
Rocco is undoubtedly the most interesting character in this Top 10. A big drinker and a bossy personality, Il Paròn combined winning two European Cup titles with habits like taking naps atop the locker rooms between training sessions, with strict instructions to the players not to wake him.
Lauded for launching the likes of Kurt Hamrin at Padova and helping Gianni Rivera develop into the legendary attacking midfielder he would become, Rocco also won two Serie A titles, though his teams of 1970-1973 also came second on all three occasions.
Marcello Lippi combined some of Rocco’s defensive abilities with a more international, effervescent approach. Del Piero, Deschamps, Zidane, Nedved, Baggio and Vialli all played under him at the Delle Alpi, helping him win four Serie A titles and one Champions League, though this would be followed by two final losses in the ensuing two seasons. The Old Lady was dominant back then, and was a Predrag Mijatovic goal away from possibly adding a third Champions League trophy.
In first place, Arrigo Sacchi takes the cake, partly because he revolutionised football forever, partly because he helped Milan win an incredible Scudetto with a preposterous comeback at Napoli’s expense. His two European Cup trophies helped, too, one with a 10-1 differential against beaten semi-finalists Real Madrid and finalists Steaua. Whilst Marcello Lippi won the World Cup with Italy, Sacchi came second at the 1994 World Cup, only losing on penalties to Brazil.
THE TOP 10
1 - Arrigo Sacchi (Milan)
2 - Marcello Lippi (Juventus)
3 - Nereo Rocco (Milan)
4 - Giovanni Trapattoni (Milan-Juventus) 5 - Carlo Ancelotti (Juventus-Milan)
6 - Fabio Capello (Milan-Juventus)
7 - Nils Liedholm (Milan)
8 - Antonio Conte (Juventus)
9 - Massimiliano Allegri (Milan-Juventus)
10 - Cestmir Vycpalek (Juventus)
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