Juventus' team of the decade
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Juventus might’ve started the 2010’s with a whimper rather than a bang – they finished seventh in Serie A under coach Luigi Delneri in the 2010/11 season – but the appointment of Antonio Conte and some tactical switches the following season saw something change, and since then The Old Lady have thoroughly dominated Italian football.
Under Conte – and his successor Max Allegri, who took over at the Allianz Stadium in 2014 – Juve have won the Serie A title (Scudetto) in the last eight seasons, and have also reached the UEFA Champions League final on two occasions, coming up short both times.
Over the decade they’ve been home to some genuine greats of the game, and it was actually hard to whittle their team of the 2010’s down to 11 men.
Here, we take a look at the best players to have represented Juventus over the last 10 years and create a team of the decade for the Italian giants.
Defence
Goalkeeper: Gianluigi Buffon
Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of the sport, Gianluigi Buffon became a genuine Juventus legend during his incredible 17 years at the club, and while he won plenty of trophies in the 2000’s, his most successful moments undoubtedly came in the 2010’s.
Not only did Buffon contribute heavily to seven of Juventus’ consecutive Serie A victories – from 2011/12 to 2017/18 – but he also set numerous records during that period, including the most consecutive clean sheets (10 in 2015/16), and the longest time without conceding a single goal (974 minutes in 2015/16).
At the age of 40, the Italian legend moved to Paris St. Germain for the 2018/19, but after one season away he returned to Juventus in the summer and now looks set to end his career there as one of their most decorated players.
Centre-Back: Andrea Barzagli
One of the defensive trio famously known as ‘BBC’, Italy’s Andrea Barzagli joined Juventus as a 30-year old journeyman in 2011 for a fee of just €300,000. But after struggling in his initial season under Luigi Delneri, things soon changed for him.
When Antonio Conte took over the reins at Juve in the summer of 2011, Barzagli was transformed into an integral part of the Old Lady’s defence – and soon gained recognition as one of the best bargain signings of all time. He helped the club to concede just 20 goals in their 38 league games in 2011/12, and was practically an ever-present for the following seven seasons, all of which saw Juve win the Scudetto.
Barzagli retired at the end of last season with a total of 281 appearances for Juventus and easily takes his spot in their best team of the decade.
Centre-Back: Giorgio Chiellini
Tough-tackling defender Giorgio Chiellini joined Juventus back in 2005, but while he was always a first teamer at the club, it took until this decade for him to really prove himself as a world-class player. Capable of playing at left-back as well as a central defender, the Italian international came into his own when Antonio Conte switched Juventus’ system to a three-man defence in 2011/12; alongside Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci, the trio known as ‘BBC’ was formed.
For the rest of the decade, Chiellini was one of Juventus’s best and most consistent performers, playing in the majority of their games and putting together a total of 339 appearances across 9 seasons. In that time he won 16 trophies with the club and was also named in the Champions League’s Squad of the Season on two occasions.
Currently out of action due to an ACL tear, how much longer the now-35 year old Chiellini can continue is anyone’s guess, but there’s no doubt that he’ll be remembered as a Juventus legend.
Centre-Back: Leonardo Bonucci
Renowned as one of the world’s best defenders over the past decade, Leonardo Bonucci joined up with teammates Barzagli and Chiellini in the 2011/12 season to create one of Europe’s strongest three-man defences. Arguably the strongest ball-player of the three, Bonucci barely missed a game as Juventus began their dominant run, and the Italian won six consecutive Scudettos with the club.
Over that period, Bonucci was named in the Serie A Team of the Year on three occasions, from 2014/15 to 2016/17, and was even named Serie A Footballer of the Year in 2015/16 as The Old Lady conceded just 20 goals in their 38 league games.
A move to AC Milan in 2017 took many by surprise, but after a lone season at the San Siro that saw him struggle for his usual form, Bonucci was back at Juventus just one year later in a swap deal that saw Mattia Caldara head the other way. And basically, it was like he’d never been away; the Italian international made 29 appearances and picked up another Scudetto – confirming himself as one of Juventus’ players of the decade.
Also check out:Seria A table Champions League table Champions league top scorers