Venerated, feared, and globally admired, the Old Lady of Turin is a footballing institution steeped in silverware and success.
For 128 years and counting the Italian giant has been a prominent presence on the biggest stages, synonymous with dominance and often replete with magical players.
Juventus have won the Serie A title on 36 occasions, almost double that of their nearest domestic rival. Only 13 clubs across the world have claimed more meaningful trophies, with many of them competing in far less competitive leagues.
Such sustained excellence of course is largely attributed to the players, famous names that roll off the tongue. The mighty John Charles played in the iconic black and white stripes, so too Sivori, Zoff, Platini and Del Piero.
Yet we shouldn’t downplay the importance of coaches to this story: magnificent, shrewd and usually very serious-looking individuals who have helped Juve scale one peak after another.
Heriberto Herrera 1964 - 1969
A lack of silverware in Turin counts against the Paraguayan but context is everything. This was the era when the other Herrera – Helenio, the godfather of catenaccio – ruled supreme at Inter, the Milan club winning numerous Scudettos with a defence that was nigh-on impenetrable.
When factoring that in, a Serie A title won in 1967, and a Coppa Italia triumph two years prior, is a decent return as Juve struggled to maintain their glory days of a decade before.
Herrera did his best in trying circumstances and built a platform for the Zebras to reclaim their supremacy soon after his departure.
Čestmír Vycpálek 1971 - 1974
It was Vycpálek who benefited from the foundations Herrera put in place, inheriting a talented young side led by Roberto Bettega, a forward who went on to score 129 times for the Zebras.
In his first season in charge, the affable Czech – himself a former player for Juve, racing down their wing in the Forties – guided the club to a league title, repeating the feat a year later as Inter’s iron grip on domestic affairs finally loosened.
In that second season too, Juventus reached a European Cup final but lost to a sensationally good Ajax side, on the brink of totally transforming football.
It could be argued that Vycpálek’s achievements in Turin have been subsequently under-played, mainly because what came next was even better. That doesn’t seem particularly fair.
Carlo Carcano 1930 - 1934
Prior to taking charge in Turin, Carcano had been the national team coach and this is key because the fortunes of the Zebras and Gli Azzurri were entwined around this early period.
Twice in the Thirties, Italy won the World Cup while Juventus reigned domestically, winning five back-to-back league titles between 1930 and 1935.
This sustained stranglehold was made possible due to both club and country possessing a ‘golden generation’ of talent, legends all.
Three who are especially deserving of mention are Raimundo Orsi, Giovanni Ferrari and Luis Monti, each unquestionably the best in the world at the time in their respective roles.
Carlo Parola 1959 – 1962, 1974 – 1976
Parola won two Scudettos with Juventus as a player, all while making 334 appearances, then guided the club to a further three league titles across two spells as manager.
Given his substantial C.V, it’s confounding that it took until 2025 before he was inducted into the club’s hall of fame.
Having managed the majestical trio of John Charles, Omar Sivori and Giampiero Boniperti to twin league successes during his first stint in the dug-out, Parola returned a decade later to bridge the gap between Vycpálek and Trapattoni yet his enduring legacy derives from his playing days.
Known for his acrobatic bicycle kicks it is his image on the hundreds of millions of Panini sticker packets ripped open excitedly down the years.
Massimiliano Allegri 2014 – 2019, 2021 - 2024
Sacked by AC Milan six months earlier, Allegri was an unpopular appointment in 2014, prompting fans to hurl eggs at his car during his first training session.
Nothing however assuages supporters more than silverware and five consecutive league titles soon had him revered by the Curva Sud ultras as Juve found themselves hot favourites in the sports betting each and every pre-season.
Inheriting a winning machine constructed by Antonio Conte, to Allegri’s enormous credit he did not simply extend on his predecessors’ ways. He changed the system, played out from the back, and remodelled the team, bringing in Bonucci to bolster proceedings and Dybala to score the goals.
Concerning the negatives, there were a litany of disappointments in Europe while his forgettable second stint strengthens the old adage that you should never go back.
Antonio Conte 2011 - 2014
Juventus had finished seventh the season before Conte took the helm, and in many ways were still feeling their way back from the Calciopoli scandal that saw them demoted.
Conte’s intense drive, demand for perfection and steely gaze soon had the club remembering who they were, and what was expected of them.
In each of his three seasons in Turin, the club won Scudettos, accruing 2.3 points per game in that period and conceding a measly 0.5 goals per 90. Bianconeri were rock-solid at the back while extravagant talents such as Paul Pogba in his prime, and Carlos Tevez, did the damage up front.
Let’s not overlook either Conte’s legendary status as a player in Turin, winning five Serie A titles and the Champions League in 1996.
Marcello Lippi 1994 – 1999, 2001 - 2004
It was Lippi who orchestrated that Champions League triumph, only the second in Juve’s long and illustrious history, and what a frontline he did it with.
On arriving in Turin from Naples, Lippi was frustrated by how reliant his new team was on Roberto Baggio for both creativity and end-product, Baggio being a mercurial type capable of brilliance, but never consistently.
The solution therefore was to sell the terrace idol, promoting in his place an emerging prospect by the name of Alessandro Del Piero. The ‘Little Painter’ partnered up with Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli and duly terrorised Europe.
In time, Zinedine Zidane joined, forming an awesome midfield pairing with Didier Deschamps and it’s no exaggeration to say this Juventus incarnation – under Lippi’s tutorage - was one of the greatest teams seen in a generation.
Giovanni Trapattoni 1976 – 1986, 1991 – 1994
Juventus won six league titles and a European Cup under Trapattoni’s charge, each achieved in his first spell as head coach, a decade that saw the Zebras conquer all before them.
In 1985, they went into their European Cup final with Liverpool cast in the football betting as relative underdogs, but emerged triumphant, the Heysel tragedy a horrible backdrop to the club’s finest feat to that juncture.
As for their league glories, is it any wonder they dominated the domestic landscape so fearsomely, with a defence almost exclusively made up of Italy’s 1982 World Cup winning rearguard while Michel Platini and the great Zbigniew Boniek schemed ahead of them.
‘Il Trap’ may have struggled to replicate his recipe for success when returning to the club in the early Nineties, but he still guided them to a Baggio-inspired UEFA Cup triumph before departing for Bayern Munich.
