Inter Milan coach, Antonio Conte, has a hot and cold relationship with Juventus’ coach, Andrea Pirlo, who is also his former mentee. Antonio Conte is one of Andrea Pirlo’s best mentors when it comes to coaching. The two of them will reunite in a fierce match between Inter Milan vs Juventus titled Derby d’Italia. It will be the 18th week of Serie A 2020-2021 match at the Giuseppe Meazza Stadium, Sunday evening (17/1/2021).
Andrea Pirlo, who has just entered the world of professional coaching with Juventus this season, does not hesitate to admit that Antonio Conte is one of his biggest inspirations. “I have worked with many coaches throughout my career, but Conte was the one who surprised me the most,” said Pirlo recounting Conte’s experience coached at Juventus from 2011 to 2014.
Under the direction of Conte, Pirlo, who was judged as “exhausted” by AC Milan, won the Serie A title in 2012, 2013 and 2014. “Conte only needs one statement, with many simple words to win the hearts of me and Juventus,” Pirlo said in his biography entitled I Think Therefore I Play.
Conte’s closeness with Pirlo extends to the green field. Conte is even like Cupid or the God of Love who shot arrows of romance at Pirlo’s heart. Pirlo meets his girlfriend, Valentina, at a cafe called One Apple. Bear in mind, the One Apple cafe is Conte’s property. In addition, Conte and Pirlo also went through the last holiday moments together before the pandemic, precisely on New Year’s Eve 2020.
However, Pirlo’s relationship with Conte did not last forever. Conte and Pirlo also felt a period where their relationship was in a wilted phase. In 2013, in the duel between Juventus and Hellas Verona, Pirlo was cranky because Conte pulled him out in the 66th minute. As soon as he left the field, Pirlo did not join his colleagues on the bench and immediately barged into the dressing room. The bizarre episode angers Conte. “If you leave the field, players have to sit on the bench, unless you break your leg or are on a stretcher,” Conte said of Pirlo’s unfriendly gesture.
Starting from that incident, Conte then applied strict sanctions for players who acted against the rules like Pirlo. Conte is indeed attached to the image of discipline and fierce. Pirlo knows that very well. Not only on the field, Pirlo is also required to be agile in the Juventus dressing room to avoid thrown by Conte’s drinking bottles.
“There is one thing I will never do again, which is choosing a seat in the dressing room next to Gigi Buffon at Juventus Stadium, right in front of the door,” said Pirlo. “It was the most dangerous place in Torino City, especially at half-time. Conte comes in, even when the team is ahead, then throws whatever he can reach into the wall, the position where I am,” added Pirlo.
